I Will Follow You into the Dark
by Only on Tuesdays
Summary: Revamped so those who have read it before are in for a major surprise. SeverusxOC, DracoxOC, HarryxGinny, I suck at summaries so you will just have to read for more details. All is explained in the first chapter anyway. Some lemons, just a warning.
1. The Dated and the Dateless

Just an opening, since we are using two OC characters. We have ditched Hermione, we thought you just might want to know that up front. It is going to be quite crowded with two OC's as is, and neither of us have quite perfected Hermione's character. For those of you who don't know, this story is coauthored by myself and my best friend/roommate Addie. I have been up keeping most of this story as she is writing many other fanfics. For those of you who read this story before its revamping process I hope that you will be pleasantly surprised by the changes that have been made. Both Addie and I agreed that the story needed to grow up and be brought out of the dark ages of our writing. She will be keeping up with the story and keeping it from getting off track and I will be doing the majority of the technical fixes and writing. We are both going to be playing a vital role in bringing this story back and I hope that our attempts are not in vain. Well, here are the characters with a few changes, as I feel they needed more development. Once again I hope that I see an up in readers and maybe a few reviewers. Enjoy!

-Faye

Lily Kacufrakus-1/6 wizard, meaning she can trace it back, but just barely. She currently lives with her elderly grandmother, who's sanity is questionable to say the least after her parents perished in a house fire. She has one brother, who is her twin. He is not attending Hogwarts. She takes pieces of Hermione's personality (we tried combining Hermione's personality between both Lily and Alyce to make a more blended story without Hermione in it). She is intelligent and inexperienced with life in certain ways. She has the downfalls of being a little naive at times, and being too cautious, causing her to miss out on many things and to be a bit of a nag. She has her own strength (emotionally) though she doesn't really see it in herself.

Alyce Fyre: Pure blood witch. Lived with her parents until her fifth year when her parents died in a car accident leaving her with quite a trust fund, allowing her to live independently. She is not from England, but was nevertheless invited to attend Hogwarts. She is also quite intelligent. She is more experienced with life, fun-loving, and brave. She has the downfalls of being loose (some wouldn't consider this a downfall), and for not being serious enough at times. Alyce is practical, a good friend, and is the one to stand up for those she cares for.

The story takes place in sixth year at Hogwarts.

Also a few changes to that as well. Snape is still the potions teacher and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Slughorn even though he barely knows what he's doing.

**Chapter One: The Dated and the Dateless**

"You really should get out more," Alyce said to Lily while putting the last touches on her makeup.

"I am content with things the way they are, without throwing myself into the dating world," Lily snapped back while knitting a scarf for the cold holiday to come. "If you don't mind I have to get this scarf done for Harry before Christmastime."

"I still don't see why you two had to break up you were adorable together," Alyce said now turning to move a condom to her purse.

"We broke up last summer, will you never let it go?" Lily said rolling her eyes. "He dated Cho last year and I don't hear you on his case about getting back together with her."

"That's because Cho and Harry weren't a couple for two years," Alyce said. "Ah well, I guess you and Harry never really got too far in those two years anyway," Alyce said smirking.

"Anyway," Lily said trying to change to the subject. "It never ceases to amaze me that you are still dating that ferret Malfoy when as far as I knew you two had almost nothing in common. I hope you aren't planning on needing that condom tonight!" Lily said in hushed tones of exasperation. She had managed to catch a glimpse of the condom out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, someone is going to make quite a mother some day, do you have eyes out of the back of your head?" Alyce questioned. "Anyway, I don't understand why you have to be such a prude. Just find yourself a date and get laid so you can finally get off my back about my boyfriend," Alyce said with a mock glare toward Lily as she walked through the portrait hole of the Gryffindor common room.

Lily had known this year was going to be hard. She just felt it in the air. Something was not right, but her thought was interrupted when she remembered the enormous pile of homework she had still yet to start for Potions. She sighed. There was no time to think about the way the air felt. She was getting ready to get up from the couch to walk over to one of the tables to start her homework when she spotted Harry walking into the common room.

He was wearing a thick autumn sweater (seeing as it was just two weeks after Halloween) and a frown on his face. He had just gotten back from detention with Snape.

"Detention with Snape I presume?" Lily said stuffing the knitting into the common room's couch.

"I scrubbed cauldrons until my knuckles bled. I swear that man is lonely or something to think of things like this to do to detention students," Harry said.

"Or maybe he just has a thing against you Harry," Lily said laughing and remembering the five years that Harry and Snape had basically been at war with one another mentally.

"Ah well, at least I'm back in this common room," Harry said stretching out on the opposite end of the couch. "Although now I have homework I have to do for Snape now," he said sighing. "It's neverending!" he shouted throwing his hands up in the air.

As Lily and Harry worked on homework together Alyce and Draco were making out in the room of requirement. Draco and Alyce had been dating for a few months now and things were getting steamy. Though they hadn't had sex yet things were turning in that direction. Just as things began to get really heated and more sensual touching began Draco looked down at his watch on the bed and shouted, "Fuck! I forgot completely about that scroll that Snape assigned for tommorow!" "I will see you tomorrow in Potions, though, won't I?" Draco added seductively

"Damnit, that means we can't skip that class," Alyce said without thinking.

"Skip class eh?" Draco said. "And what for, might I ask." he said scooting closer to her.

"Well I hear the broom closet is free and I've always wanted to mess around pushed up against a wooden door near the unmarked cleaning supplies," Alyce said teasingly.

"Well I know we both have Defense Against the Dark Arts at the same time and that seems like the perfect class to ditch." Draco said, "Considering it's at the end of the day anyway so we can spend as much time as we want in there," Draco said sexily.

"So I'll see you at the broom closet tomorrow when we ditch Slughorn's class," Alyce said, straightening the buttons on her shirt.

"You can count on it," Draco said as they exited the Room of Requirement and to their separate common rooms for the night.

Alyce returned to the common room hours earlier than Lily expected.

"So," said Harry, looking up from his scroll. "Did you and the ferret have a fight?"

"Will you stop calling him that?" Alyce said, sitting in a nearby chair. "And no, we didn't have a fight. He did the same thing you guys did."

"And what is that?" Lily asked, adding the finishing touches to her closer.

"Forgot his scroll."

A/N: I hope you liked our chapter and our characters aren't too confusing. I promise that it will get better after this first chapter.


	2. Dungeons and Broom Closets

Chapter 2: Dungeons and Broom Closets

The next day should have started just as usual for Lily Kacufrakus. A quick check over the scroll about to be turned in to Snape that morning and then maybe some breakfast before class. Unfortunately for Lily, however, this day was not going to go as planned. She woke up late after snoozing on the couch in the common room, realized her scroll was awful, tried to rewrite as much as possible skipping breakfast and was already 5 minutes late for Snape's class looking thrown together in her appearance. She was granted point loss for that. She was already in a horrible mood. All the seats were taken except for the one next to Neville Longbottom, who she had always tried to help and felt guilty for not helping during the times she tried to avoid him and the punishment Snape wold surely hand out on her helping him.

Neville was, as usual, making a disaster of his potion. Lily was so busy helping Neville that she didn't realize she had forgotten to start her own potion until she had less than 10 minutes to complete a potion that took at least 10 minutes to brew. Panicking, she threw everything in as best as possible and got a turquoise colored potion which she knew could only mean one thing; she had completely messed up the potion and was going to not only be marked down but would recieve detention because her potion was eating through the cauldron, a move that not even Neville had pulled off in his five years of mixing bad potions. When Snape got to her potion he was disgusted by her work. She tried to explain that she was helping Neville, which only succeeded in adding to his anger and he gave her a week of detention in the dungeons with him. Sighing she took her books and left the classroom to make her way to her next class.

During this mental breakdown, Alyce and Draco were flirting quietly with their eyes, each of them seated on a different side of the room. They were both thinking about the broom closet encounter soon to happen. All they had to do was get through the rest of the day and then it would be their time to share intimately. Alyce knew that they would at get detention for ditching a class, but she thought it was worth it for the rush it was already giving her. She hadn't felt this alive for a while.

Lunch was just the break everyone was looking for. Lily was so hungry by her third class that she was grateful that it was Care of Magical Creatures because the growling of her stomach was so loud that it would have disrupted almost any other class. She had been missing so many meals to try to finish all of her work already and she had destroyed that cycle tonight by getting detention and worst of all with Snape.

Harry was scarfing down his lunch and thinking about his love life. He realized that he hadn't had a girlfriend since last year with Cho, which didn't work out well. Honestly he hadn't had many relationships work out. He had dated Lily from 3rd year through 5th year when they broke up around Halloween because they decided they felt too much like siblings. He had just begun wondering if he was ever going to be happy in a relationship. It didn't help that Ron was in his own relationship so he didn't have time to talk to Harry and Harry didn't know how to tell him that he was in love with Ron's sister, Ginny, whom he knew was already in a relationship with Dean.

Alyce was jittery thinking about her rendezvous with Draco. She didn't want to eat too much because she had butterflies in her stomach and they were making her stomach do back flips. She and Draco were going to meet in the library to chat a bit before the next classes. She was going through Draco withdrawals already and it had only been two classes since she had seen him. Signaling to Draco to follow her to the library she made her way there and had a "chat" with Draco, though not too much since it was a library.

Soon enough the last class had finally come and Lily noticed that Draco and Alyce weren't present. She didn't even want to think about where they were. She shook her head and nudged Harry who was drifting off, forgetting completely that they were supposed to be taking notes.

Draco and Alyce went a little bit farther than they expected in the broom closet. Unfortunately, Ron was making a bathroom run, heard some noise in the broom closet, and stupidly decided to investigate. He opened the door letting the couple tumble out unclothed into plain view. Unfortunately, also in plain view was none other than Filch. Filch, disgusted by the scene, contacted Professor Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn. The couple got back in the closet to put their clothes back on, kissed, and promised to meet in the library again later that night because now was not the best time because they knew they were both going to be up to see Dumbledore soon about a proper punishment.

Draco and Alyce walked with a two foot span between them, down the corridors to Dumbledore's office to receive their punishment. They both had detention with Slughorn. They decided to consider themselves lucky since they were allowed to have detention together.

Lily barely touched dinner, too worried about her scroll due to Flitwick the next day. It seemed like never-ending work lately, not to mention this detention cutting in to her time. She walked to the library and worked on the scroll for a couple hours instead of eating dinner, which she hadn't had the stomach to finish anyway. She then made her way down to the dungeons to serve her detention. She walked in ready to scrub cauldrons as Harry had, but to her surprise a cauldron was set out for her to prepare a potion in.

"Miss Kacufrackus I KNOW you can do better than what you did today and your going to prove it right now, recreate that potion from this morning and don't mess it up this time or things will only be worse tomorrow during detention," Snape said with a snarl.

Lily felt as if she was being watched by a hawk as she prepared her potion. Snape seemed to find pleasure in the shaking of her hands as he peeked over her shoulders and sneered. For this reason she was so nervous that she dropped in a completely wrong ingredient and created a potion with a mother-of-pearl sheen.

"Stupid girl what did you do wrong!" Snape said, panicked, as he tried to get rid of the potion.

"I don't know professor I'm just so nervous, I'm sorry," Lily said trying to clean up the potion and dispose of it.

The potion ended up spilling and Lily could feel its fumes filling her nostrils. It smelled very much like cinnamon, cedar, rain, and small hints of vanilla. She felt completely relaxed for some reason, and looked over to see how mad Professor Snape was but in fact he looked intoxicated as well. And then in flash she felt her body being held up against the stone wall and she was being kissed harshly on the lips and much to her surprise she was giving in. Her mind completely slipped and her logic was abandoned. Luckily, she came to her senses before she had sex with Snape, and she began regaining her inhibitions. It was soon after that she realized that she had made a variation of a love potion by mistake. Snape seemed to come to as well. He got up and realized he wasn't dressed and thought about what had just happened. He surveyed the brunette's body as she mumbled her apologies, obviously embarrassed. Snape couldn't help but grin, he knew he should be horrified that he had just been in a sexual situation with a student, but he couldn't help but enjoy her embarrassment. It was a gauge of how little experience she probably had in this department and yet something about the way her hands touched his skin, and her lips moved against his said something different. He ignored that. He looked down at himself. He should be dressing himself not thinking about whether this girl knew how to please a man in bed. He shook his head, "What the hell!" he thought. "This is not a thought I should be having about a student!" Professor Snape dressed himself almost quicker than Lily had managed to.

Lily got up to get her books and without looking at Professor Snape said, "I'm... really sorry."

Professor Snape said, "You are excused Miss Kacufrakus." He had no idea what else to say to her. As she left the room he touched his lips. He could still feel the heat of where her lips had been and he knew that he wasn't going to be forgetting this encounter. He slammed his fists on the desk and then he heard the footsteps of Lily Kacufrakus speed into what he guessed was a run. He shook his head. She was terrified of him, and it was best kept that way. He straightened his cloak and sat down to being grading scrolls. He began reading the first scroll and then looked at the name on the top. "You've got to be kidding me," he thought to himself as he set Lily Kacufrakus's scroll to the side to be graded last.


	3. In Between Dreams

Chapter 3: In Between Dreams

He was having the worst night of sleep that he had in years. Memories of his mother flew back to him. He remembered the last thing she had said to him in her life. He had fond memories of his mother and of the flowers she grew. She favored lilies and he began to favor them as well. Everyday he would sit out in his mother's garden and pretend that it was just the two of them and that they wouldn't have to endure the abuse they had both suffered from his father since Severus had begun showing signs of magic. He felt closer to his mother, as she was the only link he had to the magical world before Hogwarts. His father hated him for this, not only that he was magical, but that he was growing up in a garden and boys like that never amounted to anything than wimps. Severus was his only son and he would be damned if this woman would ruin him. Severus was forced to watch his mother get beaten by this abusive man before it was his turn. Severus had gotten a few broken ribs during his father's outbursts, but he was mostly worried about his mother. One night she whispered to him before tucking him in to bed, "Find your lily. Find something you love and never let it go. You and these lilies are all I have to make me happy anymore. I want you to find something that makes you happy and I want you to escape from this. Never turn back Severus, promise me that." This was the last message he had ever gotten from his mother. She was found dead the next morning. The story was that she had fallen down the stairs and had not been able to get back up.

"My father blamed me everyday for her death and now here I am thinking about this on a night that I should be thinking about what inappropriate acts had just taken place in this very room," Severus thought to himself. Oh he had found his lily alright, he found her years ago. Lily Evans was his first, after his mother's death. He loved that woman more than he could have imagine loving another person. Something about Lily Kacufrakus reminded him of Lily Evans. He could see the same kindness in both sets of eyes, both woman had stood up for those like Neville Longbottom who were not apt at things like Potions. There was something about the look in Lily Kacufrakus's eyes told him that she was something special just like his mother and like Lily Evans. "Potter probably already had his taste of her so she is ruined for me." He thought. She can never be my lily she has already had herself taken by someone else. She was way too good at what she did. Even if she were a virgin, how am I to know that she really wanted to do those things with me or if it was just that potion? So many lilies I have lost, he thought as he remembered the his father burning the lily garden his mother had loved so much.

He shook his head. "Away with these thoughts," he told himself. He didn't have time to think about love anyway, he was Lord Voldemort's pawn. Not only was he Voldemort's pawn, but he was starting to believe that he was Dumbledore's pawn as well. He needed to focus on the promise he had made to be a double-agent. He had no time for such trists with anyone, especially not a student. He couldn't even hope that one day after the war they could be together. He knew that she would fighting in the war at Potter's side with his other two compadres. He sneered. These four were hardly more than children, for Dumbledore to have them in the war was something that still made him sick. These young witches and wizards hardly stood a chance against Voldemort, and he was certain that at least one of them would be fatality of the war. He had seen it with the Order of the Pheonix memebrs that he had witnessed being killed or tortured when he was working solely for Voldemort. They were barely over the age of Potter and his friends now and they were slaughtered. It made him sick to even think about it. Yes, there was no way that Lily could ever be with him, forces were out of both of their hands and he would have to accept that like his mother and Lily Evans, these forces were forces of evil, and that would keep him and many others away from happiness.

Draco was worried. He knew he had a serious task ahead of him and he wasn't certain of how much longer he was going to be able to keep Alyce in the dark about it. He was going to have to kill Dumbledore, and here he was sneaking off into closets with Alyce Fyre who was a known supporter of Harry Potter, hell she was one of his best friends. Draco was sure it wouldn't be long until he was faced by Professor Snape about this. Professor Snape had apparently made a promise to his mother that he would watch over Draco, but Draco believed that he didn't need the bat watching over his shoulder at all times. He knew what Professor Snape would tell him what to do. He knew that he should break up with Alyce anyway, he was putting her in far too much danger, but he couldn't help but be selfish when it came to Alyce. He didn't want to break up with her, she was the one person he felt like he could let loose with, and just forget about the terrible task he was given.

Alyce went into the dormitory and laid down on her bed. She was afraid of who would find out that she and Draco had been together in that broom closet. She knew that news traveled fast in Hogwarts and soon everyone would know. Harry had voiced his own suspicions about Draco, but Alyce had told him just the month before if he brought up her relationship with Draco one more time in that connotation she would never talk to him again. She knew it was an empty threat, but fortunately he didn't. He no longer voiced his suspicions to her about Draco, though she was sure he was talking to Lily and Ron about it. She knew that the relationship between herself and Draco was something that not a lot of people knew about. Her friends were really the only ones that knew, Draco had wanted to keep it that way. He had honestly, at first, not even wanted her to tell her friends. He had approached her the year before about being a couple. She had told him that they would let things progress, and during that time they kept things a secret because of the hatred between the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. She thought it was best that no one knew, especially if they didn't end up working out. After the battle in the Department of Mysteries, when she found out that Draco's father was a Death Eater, she knew that she had to be even more secretive about her relationship with Draco. She was careful to not show him too much attention during classes, and not to talk to him too much outside of the room of requirements or hidden in the crannies of the library, but she couldn't hold it from Lily. Lily was her best friend, and she should have known that Harry would overhear. Harry of course couldn't keep a thing like that from Ron so now there were three people who had to keep this secret for her. The odds of a secret being kept once three people knew it was very slim, Alyce knew that. She just hoped that she could trust her friends enough to keep her secret for her. When Draco had come back to school Alyce immediately noticed a difference in him. He wasn't the carefree boy she had kissed before the end of their fifth year.

Alyce waited for Lily to walk into the common room and finally, at a five past 8, she saw Lily walk in.

"He must have worked you pretty hard you look exhausted," Alyce said.

"Yeah," Lily said flopping on the couch in the common room. She felt her cheeks reddening and instantly hid her face with a curtain of hair. She pretended to scratch her neck as she changed the subject. "I noticed that you weren't in Slughorn's class today."

"Uh, yeah about that," Alyce said quickly. "It's a very long story."

"Unfortunately, you will have to tell me later," Lily said lifting her head once she was sure she wasn't blushing anymore. She picked up books for Charms and walked over to one of the tables. "I have another scroll to work on."

"Lily, if you keep this up you'll never have a date," Alyce said chuckling. "You can't expect them to jump out of the books at you."

"Guys sure aren't helping me right now," Lily said slightly annoyed as began working feverishly on her scroll for Flitwick.

"They would sure help you pull that stick out of your butt. Lily you need to loosen up or you are going to have serious health problems. You barely eat, you barely sleep, and you barely have the energy to do anything anymore. You are withering away." Alyce said with the worry now obvious in her voice.

"Alyce, I don't have much of a choice anymore. I will finish this scroll and then go to sleep. Hopefully." Lily said.

Alyce sighed. "Lily, just promise me you'll try to loosen up a little. Believe it or not there is a life outside of books, school, and knowledge. Sometimes life experience is more important than anything you could learn in a book."

Lily looked up and blinked at Alyce. Lily had to admit that Alyce was right, at least about there being a life outside of school and books. She knew a war was upon them, but it wasn't as if Alyce was doing anything about it either. She was just as far in denial was Lily, she just found different ways to go about it. Lily buried herself in books and studies while Alyce buried herself in the arms of a lover. It was just the way they operated and Lily wasn't about to point it out. It was going to be a long night and she needed and argument free environment to start this scroll. She answered Alyce with, "I realize that, but as long as we are here and in classes I'm going to focus on studies and books. I already have a hard enough time finishing all this without detentions with Snape to add to my load."

"Yeah, it must have been awful." Alyce said to Lily's comment about detentions with Snape.

"It was sure something, I'll tell you that much." Lily said trying hard not to think of Severus Snape's long fingers touching her skin. "I think I'm going to go up to the dormitory, maybe I will be able to sleep on a semi-comfortable surface tonight if I happen to nod off while writing my scroll," she said walking toward the girl's dormitory.

"Ok, goodnight," Alyce said stretching out in front of the fire.

"Goodnight," Lily said and walked up to the girl's dormitory.

Lily lay awake with feelings of shame burning at her core. She had never let herself be taken by anyone, willingly. There was the summer before her third year; that she had had her innocence taken away. She would had never suspected her own cousin to do such things to her. He had been a Muggle boy, about 19. He had been visiting her grandmother, Elaine with whom she had been living with since she was 8 years old . She remembered the summer vividly. He had been staying with them for a couple of weeks before he moved to the United States for law school. He wanted to say goodbye to Elaine who was in poor health then, suffering from dementia. He had been helping Lily and her brother Sam with Elaine. Lily was happy for the help and she was sure that Sam was happy too. He had been hiding Elaine's dementia for years worried that he and Lily would be completely separated and that they would be sent off to some foster parents far away. He had been the altruistic one, the one who told her to go to Hogwarts when she knew she should be at home helping him take care of Elaine. He had always been the more responsible of the two. Lily knew now that he had hoped that Lily would learn a spell to cure Elaine, and now the two didn't get along when she came home after the first summer telling her brother that she couldn't perform magic outside of school, and even if she could she couldn't cure Elaine's illness. Lily didn't tell her cousin about Hogwarts, but she would talk about her worries especially those concerning Elaine. She told him about Sam and her guilt for not helping him take better care of Elaine. He had her full trust and he sure used it against her.

She had been sitting in her bedroom that summer afternoon and he had walked in and sat on her bed as he had normally done when they had talked. This was the day that he would be leaving for the United States to whatever prestigious law school he had been accepted into. After that she couldn't remember much. All she remembered was the pain and her eyes tearing over and the words coming out so clearly "No, no, no, no, NO!" She had said no and no, but he still got her. The best thing he had done for her was wear a condom and as he walked out the door he dug his knife into the pale skin of her upper thigh and carved the word mine. He had not only taken her innocence, but he branded her for life. She was ashamed then too. Elaine wasn't in her right mind, so Lily knew she couldn't tell her. Sam was still mad at her so she knew she couldn't tell him. In the end, she kept the secret of her rape. Part of her was afraid that if she ever told anyone they wouldn't believe her, the other part of her wondered if he would try to come and get her if he knew that she had told anyone. He had warned her against speaking.

Now she never wore short skirts and she was never seen in the dormitory without at least a decent pair of shorts on. She was never going to let anyone know of her shame. Not even Harry had ever gotten far enough to see. She just prayed that Snape hadn't seen it. She could still taste his lips on hers as she licked her upper lip. She instantly shivered. This was Severus Snape, greasy bat of the dungeons. Something about him made her skin crawl in a very uncomfortable way. Something about his cold deamenor pushed away and also pulled her back in. He was the kind of man she would struggle to understand and would get hurt in the process. Something lurked behind those eyes and she could see it though everyone else really didn't seem to take notice. The darkness was something that sent chills down her spine. It was the kind of darkness she could easily get lost in. She shook her head. "Enough thoughts of Severus Snape!" she ordered herself. He was almost 20 years her senior! He was a professor! A tawdry love affair with a student as the last thing he needed, and she didn't need something like that either. She would forget about Severus Snape and write off his ability to make her heart race as fear rather than passion. She had to focus on her studies and helping Harry in anyway that she could to defeat Voldemort.


	4. Matters of the Heart

Chapter 4: Matters of the Heart

Draco awoke the next morning after a horrible night's sleep. He had been so worried about Professor Snape finding out what had happened between himself and Alyce in that broom closet, that he hadn't been able to get a restful night sleep. He hadn't actually gotten a restful night sleep since he had been given his task from Voldemort, but it hadn't been quite as bad as it had been the night before. His only means of support would likely be stripped from him and then he would only be able to think about the task ahead of him.

Alyce was not looking forward to classes on that Thursday morning. It was so close to Friday that she could smell it. She was so worried about Draco that she barely slept the night before. She walked over to her mirror to see the damage of a sleepless night. The dark circles weren't as bad as she had suspected, with all the worrying she had been doing. She wanted so badly to see Draco right now and to make sure he was alright and that they weren't going to have to break up because of this. Draco was the first guy she ever thought she could have a long term relationship with, he was just so, different from the rest. She looked over at the slumbering Lily. Alyce was grateful for all the times that Lily had nursed her broken hearts in the past and she always considered Lily the stronger one emotionally while she considered herself more strong physically. She certainly saw Lily as the more motherly, but now Lily was withering away under pressure. Alyce decided that she would go down to breakfast early since all her scrolls for that Thursday were already done and that she wasn't going to sleep much more anyway she might as well get some food for herself and maybe snag a small plate for Lily because it looked like once again Lily had fallen asleep in her scroll with it only halfway done.

Alyce went to breakfast and saw Draco there picking at his own breakfast in sort of a trance. She wished she could walk over to the Slytherin table and hold Draco's hand. Draco was genuinely a nice guy he just had a bit of a dark, wild side, which was one of the things that drew her to him. She waited for him to look up from his food for a moment and mouthed the words, "We'll talk in Potions." As much as she wanted to talk to Draco right now she was on another mission and that was to get some food for Lily before she was completely skin and bones.

Lily woke up to Alyce shaking her. "What do you want," Lily yawned barely opening her eyes to even see who it was. She knew right away it was Alyce. No one else cared enough to check on her except Ginny, and Ginny didn't shake her quite that hard.

"Lily, you need to wake up I got you some breakfast and you better eat it and you better finish your scroll as well," Alyce said as she moved across the dormitory to the wall mirror to see how much concealer it would take to hide those dark circles. She usually didn't have this problem unless it was a highly stressful situation. She began to apply concealer as Lily was writing her scroll and eating a bit of food. As soon as Alyce was completely satisfied with her makeup, she and Lily moved into the common room to see if any other Gryffindors were awake.

Harry was in the common room collecting his thoughts. He had such a strange dream the night before and it confused him greatly. His dream started out normally enough he was in his pajamas at Ron's house and he and Ron were in the attic bedroom looking through a Quidditch book. After that, though, things got strange. Ron had left the room and Ginny had walked through the door. She flashed him a smile and then began kissing him. It didn't take long from an innocent dream of kissing to turn to something more sexual. Ron had walked into the room as Ginny was reaching to undo her bra and Ron immediately pulled them apart. Then Ron tried to strangle Harry. Harry woke up in a cold sweat and looked over to see Ron sleeping soundly in his own bed not near strangling Harry. Harry shook his head. This was all the proof he needed that he should stay away from Ginny. She was his best friend's sister and jeopardizing his friendship wasn't something he was willing to risk right now for a girl. He rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. He had to be out of the boys dormitory in order to think.

He walked into the common room and sat on the couch. He dug his fingers into the couch cushions and found a strange knitting of some sort. He found the makings of a scarf and his initials were already stitched into part of it. "I bet Lily knitted this," Harry thought. He looked at the stitching in it. "This must have taken a lot of work. I wonder if there is any reason that she is working so hard on a gift for me." He wondered if Lily still had feelings for him the way he had. They had never gotten very far. They had barely kissed, though things were moving into French kissing before they broke up. He had no idea why he never wanted to go farther. Its not like she wasn't attractive or that he was nervous around her. Things were different and he certainly didn't have any dreams about her that were like the dreams he had about Ginny. He noticed a movement from the girls dormitory. "Who would be up this early?" he wondered.

Lily and Alyce walked in getting ready for their classes that day. It was about 6 am so they still had a couple hours until the first one. They saw Harry in the common room and waved. Harry quickly stuffed the knitting back into the couch. He wanted Lily to give it to him and he wanted her to think that he was completely surprised though he was flattered that she was working so hard. Lily sat down next to Harry and continued to write her essay and Alyce sat down next to Lily filing her fingernails.

"You are filing pretty viciously there Alyce, any reason for that?" Harry asked.

"That's not really any of your business now is it," Alyce snapped at him, feeling bad a few seconds later and realizing most of it was just stress and lack of sleep combined making her a grouch.

"Bad morning?" Harry asked now being a bit grouchy as well.

"Would you both bicker somewhere else? Otherwise I'm never going to finish this scroll," Lily said sort of frantically because she felt like she was never get all these scrolls done in time for class. Both Alyce and Harry grumbled and turned to ignore one another. "They'll get over it eventually," Lily thought. "We always do."

Potions class came at 8 am and was the first class of the day not to mention the class that Lily had been dreading. She dodged into class and tried to get a seat by Harry or Ron because Alyce had already planned to get into class at the lat minute to snag a seat next to Draco, who always managed to have a seat with no one next to him. Luckily, there was a seat for Lily and it was in the middle of the room, while Neville floated toward the outside corner of the room closest to the door. She was glad though she felt a little ashamed of avoiding Neville, she didn't need anymore detention taking away from her homework time. She tried to keep her attention off of Snape, but she also tried to look up while he was lecturing so she wouldn't seem rude and then lose points for Gryffindor. She couldn't see any difference in Snape's eyes for a while, but then she saw it. They had both glanced at one another at the same time and she saw a bit of passion hidden behind the professor's eyes. She wasn't sure whether she was flattered or worried. She tried not to show her weakness, but she knew she wasn't doing such a great job at that one. She was staring back with just as much hidden passion. "I can't be in love with the Potions teacher!" Lily thought. "And he can't be in love with me, it will just never work out! I told myself to forget about this. There is nothing between Severus Snape and I, nothing!" She moved her eyes across the room staring at something else, anything else.

Snape looked out onto his class. He was glad Lily had picked a spot in the middle of the room because as much as he wanted to hide it, his attention was all on her. He had never felt this way about a student before and it disgusted him a little. He noticed her trying to look away, and he found himself a bit hurt by that. Why should he be hurt, did he really expect a 16 year old girl to fall in love with a 35 year old, greasy haired, cruel, manipulative, man. He was a dangerous person to her. He looked down at his book sternly, but looked back up and saw Lily staring directly at him her eyes searching his for some kind of emotion and as hard as he tried to hide it he felt his passions burning through. Though it was just for mere seconds he saw the return of the passionate stare and then she moved her eyes to somewhere else in the room and held them there. He instantly felt that she knew he was paying her special attention. He cursed himself. It was obvious she was trying to ignore him to and for the best. They didn't need any passion between them. Even if they somehow found a way to be together, which was impossible because Severus would never let such a thing happen, it would only end in pain and heartache for the two of them. His thoughts held true from before. At least one of Potter's friends was going to die, and if he had to place a bet on who it would be he would say that Lily Kacufrakus was the most likely candidate. Like Lily Evans, she had too much kindness. She would die protecting someone she loved and he would be damned if that person would be him.

Draco wasn't sure what to tell Alcye. He felt he owed her some kind of explanation because she seemed like she had a rough night. "I'm sorry about getting you in trouble," Draco whispered noticing that Professor Snape was a bit distracted for a moment.

"It's not your fault," Alyce whispered back. "I had just as much control in it as you did."

"Well, not to be forward, but I wouldn't mind being that close to you again," Draco said silkily touching her leg momentarily. Alyce tried not to look shocked. He didn't often give her attention like that in class. They also didn't sit together often because they didn't want anyone to be suspicious of their relationship.

"Aren't you afraid of being caught?" Alyce whispered back.

"Always, but I find that sometimes that benefit of seeing your face light up like that is worth the risk," Draco whispered backing knowing that they would have to make this conversation short because Professor Snape was scanning the room with his eyes.

Alyce seemed to notice the same thing and gave Draco a smile and whispered silently, "I love you Draco. We will talk about this later."

"I love you too," Draco whispered back.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. None of the school found out about Draco and Alyce since Ron kept his mouth shut about it and Filch wasn't going to talk about it. Alyce was sort of grateful. The last thing she needed was for people to give Draco and herself a hard time about it. Slughorn seemed suspicious of something and gave them dirty looks through the whole class. Draco and Alyce chose to ignore them and just got ready for the detention they would have to start serving Slughorn for the next month.


	5. Wonderful Tonight

Chapter 5: Wonderful Tonight

Dinner was quiet. Everyone was getting ready for the impending detentions. Harry was the only one with freedom tonight because Ron had detention with McGonagall for some unknown reason. Everyone ate their food quickly and got back to the common room. After spending a little bit of time in the common room Lily departed for her detention. She was so nervous. Even more than she had been the first time she went in. She walked through the door of the dungeon classroom and felt it slam behind her. Severus Snape was behind her with a slightly angry look on his face, but his eyes told a different story.

"You will be cleaning cauldrons tonight and you will scrub them until your precious fingers bleed, now get to work," Snape said lividly. He hated to treat her like this, but this was the only way to end it before it became out of control. She needed to fear him, she needed to hate him, that way she could move on.

Lily began to work on scrubbing the cauldrons. She could feel her eyes welling with tears. "He is punishing me for what happened yesterday. I was a fool to think he would be able to let it go." Lily could feel her tears slipping into the cauldron as a pathetic whimper came from her throat. She tried to stop it but it was an uncontrollable action. She had thought Snape was out of the room so she let her tears fall freely out of her eyes and into the cauldrons. Little did she know, Snape was really watching her around the corner. He had never really made a student cry this much before. Physical pain maybe, but emotional pain not so much. He felt his chest tighten as he watched each tear slip down her cheeks and each rough scrub of the cauldron and each small whimper from her lips of a mix of emotional pain and physical pain. By her third cauldron she was getting really dizzy. She stood up and began to rock to and fro, her eyes were all over the room as she was blinking to try to focus on something.

She stood up shaking. "I should have just taken Alyce's advice and taken better care of myself. I'll be useless for the Order if I keep treating my body like this," she thought.

Severus watched her fall to the ground. At first he wondered if she had fainted, but he watched her struggle to get back up. Her face was pale and she was shaking. He saw the desperation in her eyes. She needed someone to help her, her eyes were begging for it. His heart was nearly torn from his chest. How could he stand here and let this happen? He couldn't, that was all he knew. He walked into the classroom and knelt down by her side holding her up.

Lily felt the pair of arms around her helping her up into a sitting position. She rubbed her head. Her vision blurred for a moment, but she was finally able to focus on his face. "Professor Snape?" she questioned.

"Miss Kacufrakus, are you ok?" Snape asked his voice sounding a lot softer than he meant it to and a lot less stern.

"I think I just overexerted myself." Lily said letting her weight fall in his arms. She would only admit to herself that it felt nice. She ignored the sexual tension of the situation. It had been so long since someone had been there to hold her up. She had been the confidant of others, she knew she didn't have as much on her shoulder's as Harry, but it was certainly more than most 16 year old girls. Not only was it a feeling of support it was a feeling of safety. He wasn't letting her fall back to the ground, he just knelt there holding her up. She looked up into his eyes and her heart sped up. His face was just inches away from hers as he felt for her breath on his cheek to be certain she was still breathing, but his arms were still around her. She closed her eyes and she let her lips brush against his.

She didn't feel him part from her lips, but she didn't feel him move any closer. She shifted her body closer and kissed him harder and more passionately. He opened his mouth letting their tongues collide. She kissed him as deep as possible and he felt himself moaning and growing a bit of an erection. She felt it on her thigh immediately and moved her kissing to his earlobe. Snape reached out to unbutton her cloak. Her cloak lay uselessly on the floor as she began to kiss his neck and he took her shirt off and her bra. She pulled off his shirt and felt his chest with her small soft hands. Severus let her skirt come off next and then her underwear. He touched her with his long fingers and Lily moved to stripping the rest of his clothing as well. Lily's bottom finally touched the cold floor as Severus shifted his weight so that he was overtop of her touching her. Lily shivered and her shiver transferred to Severus's body and he couldn't contain himself after that. He didn't understand the part of him that took over after that, but he seperated her legs and slid himself between them. He felt something pop and then he felt an immense pressure relieve. The two bodies moved in perfect rhythm until they both released. Severus instantly pulled out of her body and stood up quickly. The severity of what they had just done hit him like a ton of bricks. He dressed quickly and, and as he was slipping his cloak on over his clothes, he looked down at the floor and noted that some of Lily's blood was now on the floor of his dungeon classroom. "What kind of sick git deflowers his own student on the floor of his classroom!" he said outloud unable to contain his anger with himself.

"Ppprofessor Snape," Lily said terrified after the outburst Severus just had.

Severus gripped his hair. He knocked a table over in anger. Lily had never dressed more quickly in her life. She was afraid to approach the Professor. She walked over to his desk across the room and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him in any way she could. He turned around with a murderous look in his eyes. "GET OUT!" he shouted at her.

"No..." she said in a quiet voice.

"WHAT!" he shouted at her in her face.

"No... I won't leave." she said trying to pluck up what was left of her courage.

"There is that Gryffindor courage shining through," he said sarcastically. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you Ms. Kacufrakus?"

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Lily asked now feeling anger rise in her chest.

"You kissed me!" Severus shouted at her.

"You were my Professor you could have stopped me at any time," Lily said matter of factly. She didn't want to play that card on him, but she wasn't about to let him make her feel powerless in this situation.

She was right of course, but he didn't want to hear it from her. He was already kicking himself for this one. "Just get out," he said defeated.

Lily looked into his eyes, but he had nothing but anger in them. She stared at her feet. She felt foolish. She began to walk out the door when she heard Snape speak again.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked softly.

Lily thought for a moment. She wondered if he meant emotionally. She decided there was only one good way to answer him. She turned back to him slowly and said, "Not physically."

Those were the last words Severus heard from Lily Kacufrakus before she exited his classroom completely. He locked himself in his room and put a silencing charm on the room. He then felt free to scream in agony as he gripped his chest. This ranked on his list of worst mistakes he had ever made.

Alyce and Ron walked to their detentions soon after Lily left hers. Alyce sneered at Ron. It had been his fault that she and Draco had been caught, and she saw Ron cringe and move away from her as they walked down the corridors splitting up and going separate ways as soon as possible. Alyce walked a little farther before she heard a voice behind her, "You've been a bad girl Alyce Fyre."

Alyce turned around and smirked. Draco was standing behind her grinning. Alyce and Draco kissed in the corridor and then walked to their detention with Slughorn. Alyce smiled at Draco. That day in class had been the first time he had really said I love you so deeply and seriously. It made her skin tingle and a smile form on her face to think about those three little words. No other guy had ever made her feel this way. Love's spark never faded away, but descended into a warm comfortable glow. With her hand in his she felt so safe and happy. She knew it was going to be a wonderful night. "Too bad Lily's won't be this great, poor girl she deserves to know how it feels to be this happy," Alyce thought. She didn't have time to think about that right now though because she was already to Slughorn's office ready to hear what they had to do for their detention tonight.

Slughorn had assigned them to cleaning the trophy room and he of course had things to do so he just left them alone to clean the Muggle way.

"I guess we better get started," Draco said knowing that he had no idea how to clean the Muggle way and that this was going to take hours and that since Alyce was a pureblood witch her family probably also never taught her how to clean the Muggle way either.

"I guess so," Alyce said not feeling worried at all. She may have grown up in a pure-blood household, but she had done her fair share of housework. When her parents had passed away the year before Alyce used the money from the trust fund she was left to rent her own apartment, emancipating herself to keep out of the foster system. She didn't admit it to anyone, but she couldn't live in that house anymore. She supposed that Harry probably felt the same way about Grimmauld place. It had too many memories and felt too empty. She had of course learned how to clean the muggle way long before that. Her parents had had a summer house that she would often sneak "boyfriends" off to during the summer holidays and she would often find herself having to clean up after the nights she spent there and every time she did she would have to clean the muggle way because she couldn't use magic outside of school. . Her parents hadn't used that summer house since before she had moved to Hogwarts. They had been too busy with other things that even Alyce felt out of the loop after a couple of years of being away from her family. It seemed that they were able to keep going after she was out of the house, though she couldn't blame them. She was their only child and she had all but moved out of the house.

"How did you?" Draco began to say.

"I live on my own for the most part," Alyce said not wanting to give him the details of all the mindless fucks she had to clean up after. "I've taken to cleaning up after myself."

Draco smirked back knowing what she was thinking. Behind one of the trophies, Draco and Alyce were kissing passionately and cuddling. Alyce looked deeply into his eyes and saw the same firey passion that she felt, but also a look of relaxation and contentment that she hadn't seen on his face all day. She pulled him closer and whispered in his ear, "You're the kind of guy I've waited for." Draco felt something that he had never felt with another girl. Like Alyce, he had dated quite a bit and wasn't a virgin either when they had their broom closet incident, but with her it was special. Even more special then the first time he ever had, and when she whispered those words they were the most wonderful words he had ever hoped to hear. He loved her so much it almost hurt and he felt himself whisper back. "I too my love have been waiting for you,"

They cuddled for a while just feeling the heat from each other and staring deeply into one each others eyes. Alyce heard footsteps and knew that it was probably Slughorn so she quickly kissed Draco on the lips and jumped out from behind the trophy and began to pretend to polish the last of something.

"Very nice work," Slughorn said walking into the room. "You are dismissed for tonight. See you tomorrow."

Alyce and Draco walked away from the trophy room feeling so wonderful thought trying to hide their glee from Slughorn because he might suspect something. Alyce kissed Draco goodnight and Draco walked down towards the Slytherin wall.

Harry noticed the common room was basically empty so he decided now was the time to start that scroll he had been putting off. He had been working for about a half an hour when he noticed Ginny walking in the room. "Harry can I ask you for a bit of help with my scroll?" Ginny asked. He knew he should stay away from Ginny for the benefit of his friendship with Ron, but he was just helping her with her scroll so there was no reason to be unkind to Ginny just because he liked her. "Sure Ginny," he said aloud, "but you know Lily or Alyce would be more help, you could wait until they get back from their detentions," Harry suggested. "I don't have that long to wait. Do you think we could work together?" Ginny asked. Harry admired how headstrong she had become.

Ginny and Harry worked for about an hour and Ginny then said, "Well, Dean is waiting for me, I had better get going. Thanks for helping me with that scroll Harry you are a great friend." Ginny said smiling as she gathered her books. She walked up to the girl's dormitory and came back downstairs wearing a bit of makeup. Harry watched her leave the common room to meet Dean. Harry wished that Ginny hadn't put on the makeup. He thought she looked great without it. He sighed. This was torture, he needed to keep his mind off of her.

Draco gave the password and walked into the common room. He then proceeded to walk into his dormitory still thinking about he horrible tasks ahead of him. Somehow thinking about how much he loved Alyce had him blocking that out. Now that she was gone, he began to worry again, but he knew if he wanted to sleep he was going to have to think of better things so he fell asleep thinking about his one true love, Alyce.

Alyce walked into the common room filled with such joy that she couldn't wait to tell Lily how great of a day she just had. She walked into the dormitory and realized how late it was. "Where is Lily? She should have gotten off detention a half an hour ago," She thought.

Lily couldn't walk back to her dormitory after what had happened with Snape. she could barely contain her tears in the classroom, but in front of her friends she knew she would break down. She had to try to compose herself. She went to the one place she knew no one would be, moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

She felt free to let her tears fall. Who would hear them anyway... Myrtle? She was miserable herself and if the phrase held true, misery loves company.

She stayed in the bathroom for almost an hour. She let her mind run over what had happened. Up the the point where Snape was screaming at her, she had to admit it hadn't been that bad. She was surprised, she had heard tales of women growing back their hymen after an extended amount of time without sexual contact, but she hadn't been aware that they were true. She was glad for one thing, she was able to choose when she lost her virginity this time. She wished for better circumstances, sure, but she hadn't relapsed as she had always worried she would if she ever got close to a man sexually. She hadn't had any vivid flashbacks like she had the first year after the rape. She tried to look at the bright side. She was finally able to let go of her rape. Sure it would still haunt her, but at least she had some favorable memories to remember whenever she thought about sex instead of the horror that she endured the summer before her third year.

She dried her eyes. It wouldn't be so hard to face her friends. She could even do it with a smile on her face. She could lie to herself, tell herself whatever she needed to to keep going. She had done it before. Severus Snape was a teacher, it was a best that they never talked about this again. He would ignore her, she would ignore him. She would finish out her detention and she would finish out the rest of her year. She walked down the corridor toward the portrait of Fat Lady. She could do this.

Alyce was beginning to get really worried about Lily. Had she passed out somewhere from lack of sleep and food? Would anyone find her before morning. She was about to go and find professor McGonagall when Lily walked in the room looking a bit disheveled, but refreshed in a way.

"Where have you been?" Alyce asked. "I know detention doesn't last that long." Lily was humming. The last time she had hummed was when… "Oh my gosh, Lily you have a boyfriend don't you!" Alyce said excitedly.

"Nope," Lily said humming still and starting to write one of her scrolls.

"You liar, who is he?" Alyce asked.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you," Lily said not looking up from her paper.

"Ha! I knew it. Let's see if I can guess it?" Alyce said. "Let's see, can't be Harry, he was in the dormitory. Lily its not Ron, is it?" They both looked at each other and instantly laughed. Lily felt lightness in her chest. It felt good to laugh. "All right definitely not Ron. Maybe hmm Neville… no that can't be it. Well I guess I don't know, but eventually I will have to meet him so I know he's good enough for you," Alyce said.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Lily said quietly for the second time in as many minutes, afraid that the pain from earlier was gong to come back. No matter what she told herself she was still rejected, even if it was for the best.

"Oh," Alyce said suddenly. "You... he turned you down?"

"You could say that?" Lily said.

"But, you were humming. You were happy. Did I say something wrong?" Alyce asked worried.

"It's fine," Lily assured her. "I got my hopes up, he's not really interested."

"I'm sorry," Alyce said patting her on the back.

"So am I," Lily said quietly watching her tears hit the scroll, blurring the words she had been writing.


	6. Secrets

Chapter 6: Secrets

Friday passed by quickly. Detentions were only Monday through Thursday, a rule instated mostly because professor's wanted their weekends off. Lily was glad. She didn't need anymore awkwardness between herself and Professor Snape. Alyce was getting ready to meet Draco in the Room of Requirement for a bit of a makeout session. Alyce came out of the room dressed in a black miniskirt and a emerald green tank top. She was wearing black stiletto heels and a a bit of silver eyeshadow. She noticed Lily was wearing a pastel yellow tank top and blue pajama bottoms with yellow moons and stars and a pair of pastel yellow fluffy slippers.

"You should let me do your makeup. I swear if I get ahold of the guy who turned you down I will wring his neck," Alyce said.

"Studies come first either way," Lily said pointing to her books. "Well aren't you all dressed up." Lily said again laughing hoping to boost her own spirits. "Not that Draco will be seeing it on you for long," Lily laughed again noticing the condom hanging out of Alyce's purse.

Alyce noticed the condom as well and tucked it away. "You are surprisingly cheerful is there something you aren't telling me?" Alyce questioned. "Because you know, I'm going to find out one way or another."

"Yes, I am holding secret meetings in broom closets with my lover hoping to score," Lily said hoping to deflect Alyce's question.

"Fuck, how many people has Ron told?" Alyce asked sounding a bit frightened. Though she wasn't ashamed of Draco she knew that something like this could get him beat up in his house. The Slytherins could be quite violent to people who dated outside of the house, especially to those who were dating a Gryffindor.

"I was the first person Ron told and I told him that you probably wouldn't want something like that going around so I'm guessing he kept his mouth shut about it," Lily said trying to calm Alyce down. "Now you better get going otherwise you'll be late for your date,"

Alyce didn't know what to say. She always knew Lily had her back, but even though she barely approved of Draco she stuck her neck out for him too. "Thanks Lily," Alyce sort of stuttered out as an owl landed on her shoulder. It was Draco's owl.

"Sorry love can't make it tonight had to work on scrolls and decided not to procrastinate. I will see you tomorrow. Your dearest Draco." Alyce read aloud.

"Bummer," Lily said. "Well I guess you can stay here and work on homework with me,"

"I guess so," Alyce said sitting down and taking off her stilettos.

Meanwhile, Severus was meeting with Voldemort. He was getting sick of living this double life. He was just a teenager when he decided to join Voldemort. Voldemort told him the things he wanted to hear. Voldemort told him that if he joined his death eaters that he could finally avenge his mother's death. Voldemort had read his mind and used him. From that time he trained in Occulemcy to block out the memories that had made him vunerable. Severus was trapped with Voldemort for now though. He had decided to join Dumbledore against Voldemort upon finding out that Lily's son was targeted by Voldemort because of some ridiculous prophesy. He still regretted hearing that prophesy, though it had lead him away from the Dark Arts, which is something he would always be thankful for.

"Snape," Voldemort said as he saw Severus apparate in. "So glad that you could join us,"

"What business are we attending to tonight?" Severus asked.

"Well, I'm just waiting to hear what has been going on with the Order of the Pheonix and what they are planning. If you fail to bring me this information Snape you will no longer be useful to me and I will have to kill you. You know too much and I could never allow you to relay it to the Order." Voldemort said coldy.

Severus was ready for this question and put in a few fake stories about the Order telling Voldemort the he didn't know the exact location of the building, but he said a few things of little importance that went on the meetings and said a few things about Albus's health going downhill. All rubbish of course, except unfortunately Albus's health, but he saw a smile creep onto the Dark Lord's face. Voldemort seemed pleased with the information and went on with other businesses with the other Death eaters. Snape knew he would be called in a few weeks or sooner so he had to think of new stories now so he would be ready. Voldemort sent Severus and Draco away an hour later so they could make their way back to Hogwarts undetected. Draco and Severus aparated to Hogsmeade.

"Boy, you need to be focused. The Dark Lord will be expecting progress reports and he will expect you to have plans to finish off Dumbledore. You will have to make up something if you have nothing, or you are going to have to try to act soon. I would choose the latter if I were you. The Dark Lord can see through flimsy lies and he doesn't like to be kept waiting for one of his followers to act," Severus lectured sternly as walked from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts grounds.

"I understand sir," Draco said when really he wanted to tell Severus Snape to go to hell. This was his problem to deal with and he didn't need the overgrown bat telling him how to plan the old man's murder. He was nervous enough as is without Snape breathing down his neck as well.

"I don't think you do Draco," Severus said. "I think you are more interested in sexual dalliances than you are with the mission you were given. I can guarentee you if you let this woman keep you from performing your duty the Dark Lord will kill her to spite you."

Draco was taken aback. He hadn't thought of that. "I do undetstand sir, I am working on it."

"I hope for your sake that you are telling me the truth," Severus said as he walked Draco to the Slytherin portrait. Snape walked back down the hallway to his own room and Draco spoke the password the the portrait. The portrait swung open and he walked into the common room.

The common room fell silent. No one was quite sure of where he was, but the rumors that were going around the Slytherin house were close enough to the truth. They knew he was a Death Eater, but they didn't know what his task was. He stormed through the common room and into the boys dormitory. He laid his head down on his pillow and felt his temples throb. He needed to think of a plan to kill Dumbledore and fast.

The next morning Lily passed Snape in the hallway on her way to the library. She said nothing to him and he didn't even look at her. She tried looking at the floor so she didn't accidentally meet his gaze. She passed by him fairly painlessly. She picked her eyes back up from the floor and turned the corner to the library.

Severus spotted the one person who he didn't want to see that morning and she was walking right toward him. He averted his eyes away from her because as soon as he looked at her all he could think about was her creamy white skin and the way she felt under him. He watched her cast her eyes down the floor in what he guessed to be shame. He passed by her quickly and thought to himself, "I should talk to her, she needs to know that it was my fault for letting things get out of hand. She was right when she said I was her professor and that I could have stopped it at any time. I can't expect a teenager to be responsible for my actions as well as her own."

"Ms. Kacufrakus?" Severus said using his teaching voice to try to get her attention. It was best that she didn't know his weakness for her especially now. "Could I have a word with you, in my office?"

"Of course," Lily said trying not to draw attention to the awkward nature of this conversation. A student walked by and gave her a very sympathetic look as she followed Professor Snape down to the dungeons.

"I want you to know that none of this was your fault. I was in the wrong," Professor Snape said. "I am sorry if I got your hopes in any way."

"My hopes up?" Lily asked. "Hopes for what?"

"A relationship. When you are young... it feels like..." Snape said awkwardly as if he were giving the sex talk to his own child.

"Oh.. no I knew that nothing would come of it. I'm not as naive as you perceive Professor Snape. I am your student, it would be inappropriate for the relationship between us to be anything but a student/teacher relationship." Lily said calmly. She had a lot more strength than she had had two nights ago when he was rushing her out of the dungeons after taking her virginity with him.

Severus was baffled. He surveyed the girl standing in front of him. She wasn't much of a girl anymore, he thought. She wasn't the first of his students he had noticed an abnormal aging process in, but he had never been personally faced with it. "Well, I hope that we can put this behind us," Severus said completely out of things to say.

"Yes," Lily said. "If that is all, I have something I should be writing..."

"Of course, I'm sorry I've kept you," Severus said awkwardly.

"Have a lovely afternoon Professor Snape," Lily said turning away from him and walking through the doorway.

Severus was left once again alone in the dungeons. He knew what she was doing of course. She was guarding her feelings from him. Her mouth said one thing, but her eyes said an entirely different thing. She was still hurt by what he did to her, and no matter what she wasn't going to be able to forget it. Even if she had been able to forget it, which was a stupid thing for Severus to hope for to begin with, he knew he wouldn't be able to forget about it.


	7. Something's Gotta Give

_**Chapter 7: Somethings Gotta Give  
**_

Lily walked out of the dungeons feeling very numb. The words that had come from her mouth felt like they had belonged to a stranger. She sighed and decided not to go to the library today. She didn't really want to be out and about. She decided to walk back to the common room instead. She was hoping maybe she could find Alyce; she needed the distraction. She walked into the common room and saw Harry rummaging through the cushions of the couch until he found her knitting. Curious to see what would happen next she watched Harry hold the knitting close to him and then set it down with a sigh. He picked up a picture of Lily and himself at Hogsmeade and smiled a bit, but no romantic thoughts went through his head at all. He didn't get any feelings at all like that just a bit of a smile from the memory of their friendship. Harry stuffed her knitting back into the couch and heard a noise. Quickly he turned around and spotted Lily.

"Lily this isn't what it looks like," Harry began.

"Harry?" Lily questioned. "I really don't think its the best idea to be getting involved right now."

"Of course not!" Harry said quickly without thinking.

"What is that supposed to mean," Lily said getting angry. She knew that he was just sticking his foot in his mouth, as usual, but that didn't mean it hurt any less.

"Lily, I didn't mean it like that, your.... attractive.... its just… its," Harry said.

"Don't bother," Lily said angrily as she stormed out of the room.

Harry sighed again. He had just lost the one person he was going to talk to about this. As she walked away he felt himself guiltily saying, "Lily, wait,"

"What' do you want Harry?" Lily asked with tears in her eyes. "To insult me some more?"

"I have to talk to someone about this," Harry said.

"What is it?" Lily asked her tone instantly softening as she sat next to him on the couch.

"Have you ever been in love with someone you shouldn't be in love with?" Harry asked.

Lily closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Yes, I have," Lily said exhaling. "Who is it?"

"Ginny," Harry said quietly

"Why do you say you shouldn't be in love with Ginny? She is perfectly nice..." Lily began saying and then she said, "Oh... it's Ron isn't it?"

"You've got it," Harry said.

"That's a tough one," Lily said.

"You're telling me," Harry said under his breath.

"Harry, she is with Dean right now. I don't know how happy she is with him, but I wouldn't get involved with it for now," Lily said.

"Yeah, well, thanks for listening," Harry said sarcastically. He didn't need her to tell him what he already knew.

"You asked, I know its not what you want to hear, and its still your decision to make. I'm just giving you some friendly advice. Not only is Ginny Ron's sister putting a strain on the friendship if you ask her out, but she will feel awkward because she is with Dean," Lily said.

Harry got up from the couch and stormed out of the room. Lily sighed and grabbed her knitting from the couch. She threw it across the room and sunk her face into her hands feeling the heaves of an oncoming sob.

Alyce had been walking down the corridor and she passed the library. She sighed deeply and walked by. She had only been away from Draco one night and she was already so lost without him. She bumped into something in her trance and looked up and saw those gray blue eyes

"Why so sad love?" Draco said with a smirk.

Alyce nearly tackled him to the ground with a hug. She pulled him into the library. She found their usual spot behind the history of magical creatures section. It was abandoned at all times unless Hagrid was there. They began making out like there was no tomorrow.

"Alyce, it has only been a night," Draco said laughing.

"I know and it's been much to long," Alyce said breaking off his next statement with a kiss. She began fondle him over his clothes.

"You better be careful Alyce or you just might never be able to say that the library is the one place you have never had sex," Draco said silkily.

"Tsk Tsk Draco," Alyce said just as silkily. "Giving in so easy when I haven't even gotten my hand in your pants."

The randy couple nearly sprinted to the room of requirement. In there, there was a mad frenzy of clothing being thrown to the floor. Alyce passed her hands over Draco's skin, and felt her heart about to beat out of her chest. Draco planted kisses all down her front. The bed was occupied quickly and the two bodies collided in instant passion. The run took nearly an hour before the couple finally released all of their tension. Alyce snuggled up next to Draco and he stroked her hair. He pushed out thoughts of Voldemort and killing Dumbledore. There was still time for that, for now he had Alyce by his side He kissed Alyce's forehead and fell asleep by her side basking in her warmth.

Meanwhile Severus Snape was pacing in his office. He should be relieved that Lily had taken things so well, but by what she had said, she had taken it too well for him to be convinced. He grumbled when he heard a knock at the door and it broke his concentration. His stomach jumped into this throat when he thought of who could be on the other side of that door. He didn't know what to say to Lily if she were standing on the other side of the door. To his surprise Minerva McGonagall was on the other side of the door.

"Come in," Severus said

"Severus as you know there is a big dinner for all the faculty here," Minerva began.

"You're point?" Severus said. "I didn't attend last year and I plan to do the same this year. I know it is customary to bring a date to that dinner for a dance after the dinner to celebrate the year, but I assure you Minerva I do not have a date and do not intend on getting one for a dinner I prefer not to attend."

I don't know how to tell you this Severus," Minevra said withholding a laugh. "But, Albus is now making the dinner mandatory for all of the staff. This school is suppose to show a united front for the students, especially during these dark times."

"Well," Severus said. "There is still the complication of not having a date. I would hate to show up without a date, heaven forbid," Severus said sarcastically.

"If you cannot find a suitable date one will be chosen for your," Professor Mcgonagall said with the same venom in her voice. "I hear Professor Trelawney is still scouting a date."

Severus shivered at that thought. "I assure you when I return from my long chat with the Headmaster I will not have a date and will not even be attending this dinner," Severus said as he and Minerva exited his classroom. Minerva grinned as she said, "Well, you let me know how your long chat goes with Professor Dumbledore." Minerva then walked down the corridor toward the Gryffindor tower holding in her urge to laugh until she rounded the corner.

Severus gripped his hands by his sides as he entered the office of Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Severus, expected you a couple minutes ago. Minerva has given you the news I take it?" Albus said almost chuckling to himself.

"Listen Albus, I will not be going on a blind date and I will not be going to this dinner and that is final,"

After several minutes of arguments Severus walked out of the office defeated. If he didn't find a date soon he would be forced to go on a blind date to that stupid dinner. He was thinking about all the adult women he knew. "Well that would be a giant zero," he thought. He supposed he would just wait until the last minute and then he would make an excuse. It was the only choice he could see.

Alyce woke up lazily feeling warmth surrounding her. Then she realized, "Shit I fell asleep,"

Draco woke up and groggily said, "Huh?"

"What time is it!" Alyce asked in complete panic.

Draco looked down at his watch. "Its about 5:30," Draco said.

"Oh good I'm so hungry for dinner," Alyce said gathering her clothes.

They both got dressed and opened the door to the room of requirement. The halls were empty and dark.

"What the fuck," Alyce muttered "Draco are you sure its 5:30."

"Yes, the watch says 5:30," Draco said.

"Let me see that," Alyce said reaching out for his wrist.

"DRACO THIS SAYS 5:30 AM!" Alyce screamed.

"Oh wow, then we have been gone for a while uh well good morning darling," he said pulling her in for a kiss.

"At least it's a weekend otherwise we would be in so much trouble," Alyce said laughing. "Aren't you going to get questioned?"

"People are too afraid to get into my personal affairs," Draco said solemnly.

"Afraid?" Alyce asked with a twinge of worry in her voice.

"It doesn't matter they are probably just intimated because I'm older," Draco laughed and kissed Alyce again on the cheek. "You better get back to your own dormitory. I know your friends don't like me that much to begin with so let's not give them another reason," With that said, Draco walked down the hall to his own dormitory leaving Alyce confused and alone in the corridor.


	8. Like Vines, We Intertwined

Chapter 8: Like Vines, We Intertwined

Alyce tried to sneak back into the common room without being detected, but she ran into an early riser in the common room.

"I should have known you would be up working on a scroll," Alyce said sitting down next to her on the couch. "How much trouble do you suspect I'm in?"

"Probably about as much as me if they ever find out I stuffed your bed," Lily said not looking up from her scroll.

"Lily you are the greatest!" Alyce shouted hugging her profusely. Lily shrieked not expecting that kind of reaction and then laughed. "You would have done the same for me," Lily said hoping they hadn't woken anyone with that outburst.

"Could you keep it down," Ron said yawning as he came out of the common room. "We can bloody well hear you in the dormitory."

"Sorry," Lily and Alyce said at the same time.

Ron grumbled and walked up the stairs.

"So, why did you do it?" Alyce asked. "I know you hate Draco."

"I don't hate him," Lily said. "Something about him makes me nervous, but I don't hate him and I certainly don't want to see you get into trouble. Like I said before you would have done the same for me."

"Except that you've never given me a chance to. It's hard to cover up for you when you do nothing wrong," Alyce said laughing.

"I do plenty of things wrong," Lily argued.

"Name one," Alyce said.

"Sleeping with Professor Snape," Lily thought to herself. After a few moments of silence Alyce said "Ha, you can't even think of one. Lily, you are goody-two shoes. It's not a bad thing, it's just unexciting. Where is your sense of adventure?"

Lily shook her head. The two walked to breakfast together leaving that conversation at that.

Classes ended quicker than Lily had expected she hadn't even had trouble in Potions. Snape was ignoring her now, which suited Lily fine. Now she just had a detention to worry about. She sighed.

Alyce was walking to the library after class. She didn't usually spend her time in the library, but the common room was too noisy to think. She really wished that Draco were here so she had someone to talk to. There was another reason she wanted to talk to Draco anyway, something he had said to her still hung in the back of her mind gnawing at her. As she turned the last corner of the corridor to the library she ran into the exact person she had just been thinking of.

"Draco," Alyce said exhaling and giving him a small smile.

Draco smiled as well and kissed her. Alyce gave him a good look over. He looked more tired than usual to her. She really needed to talk to him. She was not only worried, but she knew there was something he was hiding from her, but she didn't know why he felt he needed to. It was true she wasn't always truthful with him about everything, but she couldn't she had made a promise to Harry. Things he was allowed to relay from Dumbledore were confidential.

"Could we go for a walk?" Alyce asked.

"Where to?" Draco asked smiling weakly. Something was definitely bothering him.

"Around the lake?" Alyce suggested.

"At night?" Draco asked.

"Is there any better time?" Alyce asked taking his hand. She got a genuine smile out of Draco that time.

Alyce and Draco took a walk around the lake. Draco wrapped his arm around Alyce as they walked. She was happy to be with him outside of the room of requirement for once. She needed to talk to Draco seriously and she couldn't do that if they both had only one thing on their minds.

"Draco," Alyce said as they approached the lake. She could see the breath coming out of her mouth as she said his name. She shivered and pulled closer to him. This probably wasn't the best night for a walk.

"Yes?" Draco asked nervously. He was almost certain of what she was going to ask. He was almost certain that she wanted to break up with him, which he would have understood. He couldn't see how she could stand this secrecy with him. It would be a relief. He didn't want to have to do it himself, in all honesty, he couldn't do it for himself. He had never been around anyone that made him feel like Alyce did. It wasn't just sex, to him. He was certain of that. He couldn't help but think about her all of the time.

"Why is everyone so afraid of you?" she asked innocently as she kicked a stone with her shoe.

Draco certainly wasn't expecting that question. It felt like a kick in his stomach. He certainly didn't believe that she wouldn't catch on. She was very intelligent, one reason that she was much more to him than a fuck buddy.

"Alyce," Draco said apprehensively.

"Well," Alyce said somewhat angrily pulling away from him. "I have a right to know what I'm getting into!"

"What you are getting into!" Draco shouted back to her unable to hold in his anger. "What do you mean by that? This isn't even your problem!"

"It is to my problem!" Alyce said turning around. Her frustrated tears were freezing to her face. "Draco, damnit, I don't know how to tell you this, but I really love you. I am not afraid to say it! I hate that you can't be the same way. I hate the lies and the secrets! Why can't you trust me!"

Draco dropped his head. He may be a spineless git at times, but he would never purposely make a woman cry. "It's a family problem Alyce. It's very personal and it's something I'm not proud of. Can we please leave it at that for now?"

Alyce turned to finally look into Draco's eyes. She couldn't remember actually looking into them deeply as she was doing now. She saw a man standing in the place of what she had once considered a boy. Alyce understood growing up too fast, she had done it herself. She had too much sex, trying to feel love that she lacked, and she saw that it was a mistake now, but then it was just the way things were. She knew that Harry had seen more pain than he deserved in his own young life and Lily had grown up on her own, but instead of reaching out for love like Alyce, Lily held her feelings in, spiraling her into a depression. Alyce had never given much thought to it before.

Draco reached out to grasp her hand. Alyce wiped her eyes with her free hand. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried. Sirius's funeral, That was the last time she could remember. She had been shaken up by the thought that Voldemort had come to power, but she rested too much into Harry's hands, when she knew that it wasn't fair in the least. She had been in broom closets hoping to drown her misery in sex, just as she always had. She took a vow, to herself, that she would focus less on sex and more on building her relationship with Draco. She had already told him she loved him. She thought that was a big step. She had never been able to say that to any other person.

Draco swept the hair out of Alyce's face and kissed her gently on the lips. She returned his kiss and for more than a minute their bodies were intertwined. When they separated Draco's response was nothing about the Room of Requirement. "I love you too," were the words that came out of his mouth.

Harry sat in the common room with many things on his mind. He expected Lily to be sitting next to him when he felt a warm soft hand take his. He turned instead to see Ginny. "You looked troubled," Ginny said.

"I have a lot on my mind," Harry said not wanting to let go of Ginny's hand. He knew he should let her get back to her boyfriend, but he couldn't let go of her hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked.

"It's complicated," he said to Ginny. It was complicated, he loved her, and he couldn't share anything with anyone about what he had learned about Voldemort from Dumbledore. It was a lose/lose situation.

She rubbed his hand in hers. He wished at that moment that he could tell Ginny everything that was going on, but he couldn't.

"Is there something else you would like to talk about instead?" Ginny asked. "To get your mind off of things for a little while?"

Lily entered the room for her detention. She knew it was probably a bad idea to come back, but she was going to keep going on with things normally. She had told him she could get over it, and she would be damned if she would let him see her that weak and vulnerable again.

Snape looked surprised as he saw Lily walk through the door. He hadn't honestly been expecting her. "You are not required to come to anymore detention Miss Kacufrakus. I am aware that you have a scroll due for this class tomorrow and this extra time will give you a chance to finish it," he said. This was not normally how he talked to students and was surprised to see how easily it was to say that to her.

"If you feel that is best," Lily said turning to leave the classroom. She was relived; she wasn't sure if Snape was going to be able to see through her façade and now it seemed she wouldn't even have to test that theory. As she was walking out of the classroom she turned directly into Professor McGonagall who was standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Miss Kacufrakus. I was aware that you were serving detention for the rest of this week. Pity, but maybe you could serve the rest of your sentence today, if that is acceptable for Professor Snape of course," Professor McGonagall said.

Lily looked to Snape and Snape raised one eyebrow at Minerva. He wondered what she was doing, "What did you have in mind?" he asked not really caring what she had in mind but it was infuriating him that he didn't know what was going on.

"Well, you remember that faculty dinner you are attending next Saturday and the date you are to bring," Minerva said.

"Unfortunately," Severus said wondering what this had to do with Lily staying to serve the rest of her detention.

"Well, I was aware that Miss Kacufrakus knew how to dance, and was hoping that maybe she could serve the rest of her detention being your partner. You could use the practice," Professor McGonagall said.

Lily's face was flushed bright red. "I'm not sure," Lily said. She knew there was no way she could hide her feelings and she certainly didn't want Professor McGonagall to know how she felt about Snape.

"This is completely inappropriate," Snape said outraged that Minerva would even think of such a thing.

"It is not inappropriate; I had to teach Ronald Weasley to dance for the Yule Ball. This will be no different."

Severus couldn't help but snicker. He could imagine that Weasley's face was as red as his hair when he had to practice with Minerva.

"I will start the music then," Minerva said.

"I didn't.." Severus said, but Minerva was already gone to get the phonograph. Severus sighed. He tried not to look at Lily. He wasn't sure how having her body pressed up against his again was going to be good for either of them. He also was embarrassed about having to be taught to dance by a student.

Lily looked at her feet the entire time that Professor McGonagall was gone. There was an awkward silence for many minutes. Finally Professor McGonagall reappeared with the phonograph.

She began the phonograph and Lily recognized the music. It had been the same music she had had to practice with for the Yule ball. She had gone with Harry, though they had both had a terrible time she remembered. Alyce had also had a terrible time. She had been asked by Victor Krum, but Ron being the jealous prick that he was had to mess it up for her. Lily shook her head. She was letting her mind get off track again.

"Take your partner," Professor McGonagall stated as Severus intertwined his fingers into Lily's her body only inches away from his. She still didn't look up obviously blushing and not wanting him to see it.

"Place your hand on her waist," Professor McGonagall instructed to Snape. He was reluctant to do so, but after a glare from Professor McGonagall he rolled his eyes an dgingerly placed his hand on her side.

Professor McGonagall grabbed Severus's hand and moved it to the correct spot. "Miss Kacufrakus doesn't have leprosy," she stated.

Lily directed her feet as Snape stepped all over them. Professor McGonagall sighed. "If you don't start behaving, I will be the one to take over for Miss Kacufrakus and I stomp back," Professor McGonagall said.

Lily was amazed at the lack of formality between the professors. She felt as if she were a part of a skit that she wasn't aware was occurring.

Severus just couldn't seem to figure out how to move with her. He did like stepping on her feet the first few times, but now it was just embarrassing. "Move when I move," Lily whispered to Snape.

She took one step back and he matched it. She moved to the side and he followed. She started him slower just with small movements at first. Soon, though he didn't notice, she had sped them up and then it began to look more fluid, like a dance between two opposing forces.

"Much better," Professor McGonagall commented.

Severus continued to follow her motions as they became more complicated. His body had never felt so fluid. He had never learned to dance, but he felt himself at ease. He tried not to focus on his partner, and she was ignoring him it seemed. He was embarrassed of course that she was leading him. Severus Snape wasn't led, he was the one that did the leading. Having a student have him a position like this, was taking a hit to his authority. He instantly broke the pattern of her dance and began to lead her. He, unfortunately couldn't dance very well, so the dance became sloppy and Lily tried to get it back to the smooth motion it had had just minutes before. Severus fought against her and there was a battle between the bodies.

The music began to speed up. Lily remembered this particular point in the music when she had practiced before. It almost seemed fitting. Their bodies were in a fight and were creating a powerful dance of their own. Severus, after getting his footing, competed against her steps for dominance of the dance. The more Lily fought him to get the dance back to a more fluid state the more power he put into it and the more complex he made his steps. Lily knew that he had never learned to dance, but with the force he was putting against her steps she was sure it must look like a passionate and strong dance between them. Finally, the music reached a crescendo and Severus spun Lily away from him and felt her spin back in placing her hand in his at the end of the waltz that had developed in the end, into a tango.

"You are excused Miss Kacufrakus," Professor McGonagall said smiling.

Lily instantly pulled away from Severus and walked out the door.

"That was lovely Severus, I had no idea you could dance," Professor McGonagalll said smiling.

"Neither did I," Severus thought to himself. He felt like he had just worked muscles he never knew he had. "I must get back to my job now, which does not include dancing with students."

Professor McGonagall moved the phonograph and called Filch in to take it back to storage. She looked at Severus and said, "Take it up with Albus, I'm following his recommendations."

Seveurs rolled his eyes. "The man asked me to dance with my student?" he asked sneering.

"No, he wanted you to learn to dance. I was planning to teach you myself, but Miss Kacufrakus was here for a detention so I figure I might as well finish her punishment. You have to admit Severus, dancing with her Potions Professor? Probably one of the more mortifying detentions she has had and that's one way to discipline that physical scrubbing doesn't accomplish at times," Professor McGonagall said walking out of the room.

Severus didn't know what Dumbledore was getting at by forcing him to go to this dinner. He didn't see what that had to do with Severus's current mission at all, but then again no one understood how Dumbledore thought.

Lily felt her body shaking as she walked up to the Gryffindor tower. That had been one of the most powerful, provocative encounters she had ever been in. The powerful non-verbal communication was intense. The dance told a story of its own, and Lily couldn't help but admit that she wanted to feel that kind of power again. She knew it was wrong, but she needed to be with someone like Severus Snape. She needed someone powerful, brooding, and non-verbal. She needed body language, quiet thought, and mystery. She never felt her hear flutter more than when she thought of Professor Snape's dark eyes, the more she looked into them the farther she felt herself being pulled in. She had never believed the corny line "getting lost in your eyes" until she gazed deeply into his. Their eyes had met during that dance, though she had been trying to keep them down. She pushed her passion out into her movements. It was the first time she had been completely open with a man, and she guessed that was one of the only ways she could ever feel that close to someone. She had a connection when they had danced together that she hadn't even had when they had sex. She knew that somewhere in Snape there was a hidden dark passion that she could get lost in, that she could easily become pulled into. She was naïve enough to let herself get pulled in.

She walked into the common room trying to slow her heart. She ran directly into Alyce who noticed her frantic state.

"Your back early," Alyce began saying and then noticed Lily's facial expression. "Lily what happened!"

"I have a date, next Saturday," Lily said letting her logic go away from her. There was no room for that kind of thought when it came to her heart. "Could you do my makeup?"

Alyce looked at Lily as if she had just sprouted another head. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"I may need to find a dress too," Lily said. "It's a more formal occasion. Do you think you could help me find something?"

"You're being completely serious?" Alyce said still unconvinced that Lily wasn't pulling her leg.

"Yes, but try not to make it too slutty.. no offense.. he's.. classy. He doesn't fall for slutty girls," Lily said letting her heart race at the thought of a new scheme she was building up in her mind. She was willing to take the risks that came from this scheme if it meant being with him like that again. Even just one more time, when she could really feel it, when he wasn't holding back because Professor McGonagall was watching, would be enough for her. She wanted to feel his unbridled passion in its full content.

"Well I have a few dresses that fit that category, but I've never worn them as you can imagine. They were gifts from my parents, when they were still alive. They hoped to buy my love…" Alyce said.

"I'm sorry," Lily said forgetting her excitement for a moment. She felt very insensitive.

"Well let's find you a dress!" Alyce said trying to forget the comment she had just said that had shattered the happiness of the moment.

Alyce dragged Lily upstairs to the girl's dormitory and they went through Alyce's wardrobe. "I am afraid I didn't bring most of them, I actually planned on asking you if you wanted them, they are more your style… Long," Alyce said laughing.

"Oh," Lily said touching the fabric of one of them. It was bright red and strapless. She held it up to herself. It sparkled in a few places, but and had thin wisps of fabric in the skirt portion.

"Could I borrow this?" Lily asked knowing instantly that the dress was perfect.

"Borrow it?" Alyce said laughing. "Consider it yours; I never liked that color on myself personally."

"Thank you!" Lily said hugging Alyce.

"Now don't forget that you promised I could do your makeup. I wonder if he'll even be able to recognize you all made up." Alyce said laughing.

"That's the plan," Lily thought to herself.


	9. Love Drunk

**Chapter 9: Love Drunk **

Lily was focused. She held up her wand and said the charm aloud again. She was trying to charm one of her quills. She picked up the quill and wrote her name again on a piece of parchment. "Still too close," she thought to herself. She continued the charm and Alyce walked up behind her.

"Whatcha doin?" Alyce asked cheerfully.

"Trying to charm my quill," Lily said. "I want to try out a different handwriting, but so far it hasn't changed much," Lily said holding up the piece of parchment she had been practicing on.

"Hmm," Alyce said. "I had a quill that changed your handwriting. I got it as a gift from Fred Weasly, you know when we had that fling."

"Yes I vaguely remember that. So do you still have this glorious quill?" Lily asked frustrated with her own quill.

"I might," Alyce said. "I'll check," she added walking toward the girl's dormitory leaving Lily in the common room by herself. She had one week to charm this quill, not to mention the potion she had brewing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was almost done. She had successfully mastered the color change charm which was one of her bigger worries. She had successfully changed the color of one of her eyes to blue for 24 hours to make sure the spell would stick. Of course no one had really noticed, probably because it was a very small change, and it was the weekend so she didn't have to leave the common room often except to eat. She had even successfully preformed a counter curse and her eyes became their usual green color. She was practicing with a soft brown for her eyes now. She looked in the mirror and changed her eyes to brown. She tried to lighten the shade of brown and finally found a shade she was happy with. She was in the middle of performing the counter charm when Alyce tapped her on the shoulder and Lily spun around quickly.

"Lily I found that.. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR EYE?" Alyce said pointing.

Lily looked in the mirror again and realized she had only changed one of her eyes to its original color. She noted that one brown eye and one green eye was a lot more creepy than one green eye and one blue eye. She used the counter charm and her other eye returned to normal.

"Just practicing," Lily said.

"Why the sudden interest in charms?" Alyce asked. "I know you are obsessed with all forms of learning, but I've never seen you take this much of an interest." Alyce said suspiciously.

"NEWTs are coming up next year, I thought I should stay brushed up on all the charms I could think of," Lily said lamely.

Alyce shook her head and said, "You would spend your weekends that way wouldn't you? Well I found the quill, go ahead and try it out."

Alyce handed Lily the quill, "Try it out," Alyce recommended.

Lily wrote her name on the parchment and was pleasantly surprised. "Its messy, but it will do. Thanks Alyce!" Lily said.

"Oh I forgot to tell you actually there are two settings. Alyce tapped her wand against it twice and handed it back to Lily. "It should be fine now."

Lily wrote her name again and was very pleased. "This is perfect."

"Glad to be of assistance." Alyce said. "I'm meeting Draco in twenty minutes so I'll see you later," Alyce said walking back up to the girl's dormitory to get dressed.

Lily began on the letter she had been planning to write. She knew she shouldn't even be thinking of doing something like this. It was inappropriate, it was foolhardy, and it was something Lily would have never done normally. She didn't feel normally though. She was in love, and she was determined to have one real date with Professor Snape, even if he didn't know it was her. She just needed to see if her passion was returned. She knew nothing would come of it, but maybe someday, after the war, she would tell him what she did, when they would be able to be together. Mentally she was kicking herself. This could easily lead her down a road to more heartache, but for now she was riding a high, and she was determined to go through with her plan. Her only trouble was trying to figure out how to address him in the letter as an outsider.

_Dear Professor Severus Snape, _she began. That seemed the safest route.

_Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has informed me of your requirement of a date for the upcoming faculty dinner. I have agreed to accompany you as your date. I have been informed that you may try to weasel out of your date, but I assure you I am just as stubborn. Dumbledore has notified me of the importance of your appearance at this faculty dinner and the prerequisite of a date to attend the dinner. I hope to have a semi-enjoyable night and your compliance would be graciously appreciated. It is only one night, I am sure you will be able to stomach my company for that long. _

_Sincerely, _

_Rachel Johansen_

Lily was satisfied with her letter. She was surprised at how headstrong she sounded. She felt a newfound courage in this new identity. She was hoping she would be able to pull off being called by a different name. Her mother's name was Rachel and in Elaine's confusion she often called Lily by her mother's name. Lily had grown accustomed to this name and knew that almost no one would know it was her mother's name. Rachel hadn't gone to Hogwarts; the magic had skipped a generation. Elaine's sister Sophia was the last witch in the family and none of her children had shown any sign of magic either. It was very odd, but Lily was one of the only of her cousins to show signs of magic either. It was one reason that she was often considered Muggle, because though wizarding blood was in her family many of her family members hadn't shown any sign of magical ability.

Before she lost her nerve she sent the letter with one of the barn owls. She hoped Professor Snape wouldn't notice that it was a Hogwarts owl.

Severus Snape graded papers fearing the moment he would be called by either of his masters to bring him back to his real task. He looked through his classroom door and an owl was flying toward him.

"Bloody creatures," he heard Filch shout from down the corridor. Severus couldn't help but snicker. It seemed the owl had left a mess. He watched the brown barn owl fly into his classroom and drop a letter on his desk. He sighed. He hadn't been expecting any mail. He looked at the envelope. It was unfamiliar. He tore it open and a few pieces of plain stationary fell out. He had never seen stationary like this before and he began to wonder who was sending him letters. He read the letter to himself and contemplated burning it. No, he would rather send the woman a snarky response. She was out of her mind if she thought he was coming quietly.

Alyce walked back into the common room and waved goodbye to Lily who seemed to be waiting for something.

Alyce exited through the portrait hole and made her way through the corridors and down the stairs and out of the castle. She was meeting Draco by the lake, which had become a place that they spent most of their time.

Alyce breathed in heavily as she walked out the doors and took in two deep lungfulls of cold November air. She could feel December coming and soon Christmas would be around the corner. She looked forward to relaxing and spending time in the castle with Lily, Harry and Ron. She would save some time for Draco too, but she hadn't spent a lot of time with her friends. She had spent a little bit of time with Lily, but she hadn't held more than a few sentence conversations with Harry and Ron. She guessed that there was probably still some hostility between Harry and Ron and herself. They still didn't trust Draco, and she guessed that Harry was still angry that Malfoy had broken his nose and left him on the train to never be found. She knew that should bother her more, but she was too love drunk to care.

Draco seemed to be arguing with someone was she approached. He had remembered she was meeting him, hadn't he? She walked closer, keeping out of sight. She knew it was wrong to spy like this, but she couldn't help it. Draco was definitely hiding something from her, and she wasn't sure if he was ever going to fully explain what was going on to her.

Alyce climbed into a tree within hearing distance of the two arguing. She recognized the other person as Professor Snape. She cringed. Slytherins almost never got in trouble by their head of house, and by the look on Professor Snape's face he was furious.

"Are you out of your mind!" Snape yelled at Draco.

"It will work," Draco said quietly. "I know it will."

"You had better hope that it works, you know the punishment if you do not carry out your task," Snape said coldly as walked away. Alyce tried to suppress a snicker; he looked more like a bat outside where the wind could blow his cloak than he did in the dungeons. It didn't take much to suppress this snicker because the wheels in her head were turning. Draco was definitely hiding something and it seemed his life depended on his task being completed perfectly. Alyce shivered and the shiver had nothing to do with the cold weather. She was tempted to climb down the tree and start questioning Draco, but she didn't want to ruin the relationship, not yet. She knew that if he knew she was spying on him the trust they had begun building up would be destroyed.

Alyce waited in the tree quietly waiting for Draco to move. He walked toward the building and Alyce felt the anger fill her chest. He was supposed to have met her out here, but it seemed he was going to blow her off, or that he forgotten and she had no idea what was going on. She climbed down the tree and walked toward the building as well. She was definitely going to do some more digging on him. She needed to find out exactly what was going on.

A sudden feeling of terror ripped through her body as she walked into the castle. She nearly knocked over a first year as she stumbled into the doorway. Her chest felt constricted and her she was having trouble breathing. Her knees felt weak and she felt like she was going to be sick. "No," her mind said. "Harry couldn't possibly be right, why am I doubting Draco, he's a good guy. How could I possibly think he's a death eater? He couldn't be, he's not evil and he's not cruel. He's… he's my boyfriend." Her mind tried to reason. She shook it off. "There is no way," she said to herself quietly. "It's got to be something else."

Lily finally got her response several hours later. She was surprised the owl had been able to find her, but she had a letter waiting on her bed in her dormitory. She opened the letter and looked at the familiar sharp scrawl. She squinted to read it better.

_Ms. Johansen, _

_Let me be quite frank, I will not be going to this dinner. You are wasting your time trying to carry out Dumbledore's task, and you are wasting a perfectly good Saturday. If you continue to communicate any desire to accompany me to this dinner, you will find that you will regret ever contacting me. _

_Leave me in peace,_

_Severus Snape_

Lily's hands were shaking as she began writing her response. She had suspected a response like this and she wasn't going to give up that easily.

_Mr. Snape, _

_Let me be quite frank, I will not let you weasel out of this dinner. I find your contempt a challenge and I must tell you that I do not back down from a challenge easily. You will find that I am harder to shake off than most and you are going to have to try much harder to make me, as you said, "regret ever contacting you". I suggest you swallow your pride for one night because one way or another I am certain you will have to go to this dinner and you might as well try to enjoy it. _

_Sincerely, _

_Rachel Johansen_

Lily sent the letter feeling empowered. She hadn't known that she had that kind of nerve. She walked out into the common room and found a very nervous looking Alyce sitting on the couch. Lily walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong Alyce?" Lily asked instantly changing from her headstrong mood from earlier to a more nurturing state of being. "Did something happen with Draco?"

"It's fine," Alyce said. She really didn't want to admit that she was worried about Draco being a Death Eater. She was in denial about it herself. She wasn't even going to talk about it until she was sure that her feeling over unease was founded on something other than one argument she had heard between Draco and Snape.

"Alyce," Lily said rubbing her shoulder. "I know you're lying, seriously what's wrong?"

"Nothing, jeez Lily could you give me some room," Alyce said. She was sick of Lily butting in.

Lily instantly recoiled her hand as if she had been shocked by electricity and looked hurt. "Fine," Lily said walking away.

Alyce sighed. She didn't really have to take it out on Lily, but she was in no mood to deal with Lily's prying even if her intentions were good.

Snape went back to grading scrolls. He was in a particularly bad mood and the last of his students had been graded more strictly than usual. He grinned when he saw Lily Kacufrakus's scroll. He would have fun ripping this apart, he thought to himself as he began to relax himself. As he picked up his quill the barn owl from earlier swooped in and dropped him another letter and then flew away. Snape grumbled and pushed Lily's scroll away to read the letter. He was hoping for a very insulted woman sending him something back and saying that she wouldn't go with Snape to that dinner if he were the last man on earth, but it seemed she had more gall than he had expected. "Damn chit," he thought to himself. "She must have been a damn Gryffindor to have this kind of nerve."

Severus smiled again. She wanted a challenge did she? He would show her a challenge. He began writing quickly and when he was finished his letter read,

_Ms. Johansen, _

_I must admit you have more nerve than I thought. I see now that you want a challenge and I assure you I will win this battle. Even if you find some crazy way to get me to attend this dinner with you I assure you it will not be a pleasant evening. It may possibly be the worst evening you have ever had. I don't know why Dumbledore put you up to this, but I'm sure after the dinner you will be cursing him for choosing you for such a task. _

_Severus Snape_

He felt himself grinning as he sealed the letter and sent it away. This woman was going to be sorry she ever sent him a letter in the first place. He was almost tempted to go to the dinner just to meet the woman, because he knew he could do so much more damage to her spirit in person than he could ever do in a letter. His letters did his wrath no justice. He suddenly felt himself looking forward to this dinner.

Lily opened the newest letter from Snape and snickered to herself. She was going to enjoy seeing what he had in store for Rachel. She didn't have much to write back it was already clear that he was giving in to the dinner, not that he had a choice if he didn't find a date soon he would be forced to take some anonymous woman that was chosen for him.

_Severus, _

_I look forward to seeing just what you have in store for me. If you think you are going to win this battle you are highly mistaken. _

_See you Saturday night, _

_Rachel_

Lily waited anxiously for the return of her letter, but it seemed Snape had stepped out because after an hour and a half she still hadn't received a response. She decided to go to the library and study for the rest of the day. She needed to practice a few more charms and catch up on her scrolls and she should actually be ahead for the next week.

When Lily entered the library she chose a seat and sat with a book of charms. She guessed she must have been sitting there quietly for a while because when she looked back up she saw the one person she hadn't wanted to see and the one person she was angry with.

Lily gritted her teeth. He didn't seem to notice that she was sitting nearby and she cleared her throat. Draco looked up from the book and his face went white. He tried to ignore her and look at his book, but she wasn't buying his act.

"So I saw Alyce today, she looked pretty upset, what exactly did you say to her?" Lily said somewhat nonchalantly but with a bit of spite in her voice.

"Nothing I didn't even see her today," Draco said defensively.

"Ah, well she was supposed to meet you today, or did you forget?" Lily said angrily. She was beginning to understand what might be going on.

"I had a meeting with someone today I couldn't get out of I was planning on sending her a note later explaining." Draco said.

"Later?" Lily said. "Why not now, what could you be doing that is so important that you couldn't have the courtesy to send your girlfriend a note letting her know that you were going to blow her off so maybe she could make other plans for her day instead of sitting up in the common room depressed."

"Since when is it any of your business," Draco said glaring at her.

"I'm making it my business," Lily said standing up and walking toward him.

Draco quickly closed the book he was looking at. Lily got a look at the title. "What could you possibly need out of a book like that?" she questioned trying to get it out of his hands to get a better look at exactly what he was researching.

"Get your hands off of me you filthy mudblood!" Draco shouted shoving her.

Lily fell back into one of the tables cracking her head. She touched the back of skull and looked at the blood on her hand. Draco's eyes got big and he hurried out of the library not looking back. Lily picked herself up and began to walk toward the common room. She didn't want to have to go to the hospital wing, she had honestly set him off, but still she needed to warn Alyce. Draco was dangerous and she didn't want Alyce to get hurt because if Draco could do that just from her harmless snooping she couldn't imagine what Draco would do to Alyce if she ever tried to do what Lily had done. Alyce would have been more persistent, Lily knew that for sure and that made the situation even more dangerous. She finally made it to the portrait hole and said the password. The portrait swung open and she climbed through to the common room.

Alyce was still moping on the couch, well not moping so much as thinking, but it was hard for anyone else to see exactly what she was doing. Lily sat next to her on the couch again. Lily had managed to get most of the blood to stop flowing from her head but her hands were covered in blood.

Alyce looked over at Lily ready to sneer at her for butting into her life again when she got a look at Lily's hands. "What the hell happened to your hands?!" Alyce asked shocked at the sheer amount of blood.

"I was studying in the library and your boyfriend and I got into a fight," Lily said coldly. "He is violent Alyce, this was just him getting annoyed with me, I can't imagine what he would have done if I had really made him angry." Lily said.

"You're lying," Alyce said. "He would never attack someone."

"Wake up Alyce!" Lily said almost yelling. "This wasn't some kind of accident he pushed me into a table because I was trying to find out what he was hiding. He did this in a public place Alyce what do you think he would do to you in private!"

"You must have provoked him, this is your fault Lily there is no way Draco would do something like this," Alyce said.

"I can't believe you're sticking up for him, jeez Alyce how long have you known him and how long have you known me. I haven't ever given you a reason to doubt my word before or my intuition and my gut is telling me that something is not right and you are going to get hurt." Lily said with tears streaming down her face. She knew it was going to be hard to convince Alyce, but she didn't expect to be called a liar.

"Your jealous, you don't have someone, your some frigid virgin and you can't get laid so you are all over me about my supposed abusive boyfriend. Get over it Lily and just let me be happy," Alyce said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lily shouted. "You are so jaded. How could you believe something like that?"

"You can't just let me handle this, this is my life you're not my mother!" Alyce shouted.

Lily looked her straight in the eye, "I don't believe I'm your friend anymore either," Lily said as she pulled herself off the couch and walked toward the dormitory.

Alyce pulled her knees up to her chest. This was not how she had wanted things to go at all. She had spent all afternoon trying to figure out an alternative to what Draco had been talking about with Snape and she had finally found the perfect explanation for it all and then Lily had to come barging in with her accusations and now she was back to square one in her thought process. Just as she was thinking an owl flew in and dropped a letter in her lap. It was a small quickly written note and Alyce was truly touched when she opened it and read,

_Alyce, _

_I'm sorry I missed our date today; I've had a lot going on this weekend. I have some special makeup assignment for Snape as I'm not doing well in Potions. I was hoping maybe you could give some "private tutoring" tomorrow. I have a feeling I could really benefit from it. _

_Draco_

Alyce held the note close to herself. It all made sense now. He was under an enormous amount of pressure and that must have been what he was arguing with Snape about. She guessed that what happened with Lily must have just been an accident and Lily must have blown it out of proportion. Nevertheless she was angry at Lily and wasn't going to talk to her a while. She wasn't wrong so Lily would have to be the one to admit that she was wrong and apologize. Until then, Alyce guessed she was going to have a lot more peace about her boyfriend and her choices. She smiled at that thought though her insides did ache from the loss of her last friend as Lily, Harry and Ron were the only people other than Draco that she talked to often and now none of them were talking to her. She sighed. It seemed that being love drunk had more consequences than she had expected.


	10. Won't Go Home Without You

Chapter 10: Won't Go Home Without You

Sunday came and still neither girl was talking to the other. Lily had regretted saying what she had to Alyce, but she hoped it would snap Alyce out of whatever love sick trance she was in now and see Draco for what he really was, dangerous. Lily pushed herself to finish all of the scrolls she had put off the day before when she had been practicing her charms. First, however, she needed to check her potion that was currently brewing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Alyce fell asleep on the couch in the common room still holding the note Draco had sent her the night before. She placed it in the pocket of the cloak she had fallen asleep in the night before. She got up and followed her normal morning routine getting herself ready for a tutoring session with Draco. She smiled when she thought about that.

Draco stayed up the entire night trying to figure out where to test the effects of the cursed opal necklace he had purchased. He contemplated taking it into the forbidden forest. He hadn't had any good experiences in the forbidden forest; he remembered a specific incident in his first year at Hogwarts which still terrified him. He held his head high though, he couldn't possibly let something as frivolous as the forbidden forest scare him when he had something to fear much more. Lord Voldemort was his ultimate source of fear and for good reason. He wrapped the necklace he had cursed into a bundle carefully not touching any of it. Once he had it wrapped and packed away he began to get ready for his trek into the forbidden forest.

Alyce walked down to the library. Draco hadn't specified where they were going to meet to "study" but Lily had seen him studying in the library yesterday. Despite the fact that she thought Lily was overreacting about something with Draco she still believed that Lily had talked to Draco in the library, she had no reason to lie about something like that. Alyce's walk to the library didn't last long until she ran into Draco who looked very distraught.

"Hey, I was just looking for you," Alyce said smiling.

"Oh?" Draco questioned.

Alyce got a good look at Draco. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. "You look like hell," Alyce said.

"I feel like it," Draco said rubbing his neck.

"Where do you want to study, or would you rather go back to your dormitory and try to catch some zs?" Alyce asked.

"I was thinking about the forbidden forest, it's quiet and out of the way, and we haven't been there all year," Draco suggested.

Alyce shivered. She didn't have any good memories of the forbidden forest in her six years here. She sucked in a big breath of air. "I suppose now is the time to start creating some good memories, it's foolish to be afraid of a place, especially in the daytime," Alyce thought to herself. "I would love to," she said to Draco.

Draco smiled. "May I accompany you, my love?" he said with a very chivalrous tone.

Normally Alyce would have laughed in the face of a guy who did that to her, but something about the way Draco did it made it seem less irritating and sexier. "Of course good sir," she said trying to suppress a laugh. Alyce's mind was at ease. "There is no way he could be dangerous, not Draco. Lily had better have an apology ready for me soon if she wants to patch things up," she thought to herself.

Lily had checked the aging potion. It seemed to be brewing to perfection, which was exactly what Lily needed. She couldn't half ass this night, it was the only one she could have with him and she would be damned if a bad potion was going to ruin it for her.

Alyce and Draco made it out to the forbidden forest. It had begun snowing as they walked out and Alyce shivered. She hated the snow, it was cold and wet and unforgiving. Sure she loved living in Boston, but she always caught the weather in the summer for a reason. Boston had some unforgiving winters.

Draco set down a blanket he had brought with him when he was planning to test the opal necklace in the snow and Alyce said to him, "Maybe we should go back inside I think that blanket is going to get soaked within a matter of minutes because it's already starting to snow harder. "

Draco gritted his teeth. "Damn weather," he thought to himself. He decided to jut leave the necklace outside overnight, perhaps in a bit of underbrush that no one would ever think to go through and then when he was alone he could come back and truly test it out. Either way he needed it out of the dormitory before one of his fellow Slytherins decided to investigate it, and well he knew the power of the curse if it truly did work as it was supposed to and he wasn't about to blow his cover by killing one of his fellow Slytherins.

"Sure thing love," Draco said picking up the blanket. "You start heading back I think I could use a few more minutes of fresh air. I'll meet you in the library."

Alyce cocked her eyebrow, shrugged he shoulders, and walked away. She had a strange feeling about the nervousness in Draco's voice. He sounded uneasy, just as he had that day with Professor Snape. Something was definitely going on here, and as much as she didn't want to believe Lily, she was no longer at ease with Draco. She was contemplating what to do about it as she walked into the castle shaking the snow out of her hair. She would keep his unease a secret for now, no reason to sound the alarm since Harry already suspected Draco of something Alyce couldn't even think of. "He is not a death eater," Alyce thought to herself. "He would have to kill you if he was, because you are the enemy of death eaters." She was hoping that this reassurance would put her at ease with the situation, but instead it just made her feel sicker.

Draco found the perfect opportunity to test the necklace. He spotted a small spider scurrying up a tree and he caught it. He placed the spider on the wrapped necklace and carefully unwrapped the necklace so as not to accidentally touch it. The spider crawled over the necklace and instantly retracted away, seizing uncontrollably. The spider began to spontaneously bleed as it became more affected by the cursed necklace. Eventually the spider curled up and died after two minutes of pure agony.

Draco cringed and wrapped the necklace back up carefully. He even contemplated finding a new way to kill Dumbledore as he watched the spider's terrible death. This necklace, it was just too painful to watch that spider die like that let alone another human being. He watched the snow fall from the sky harder now and he wondered how long he had been out in the forbidden forest while Alyce was waiting in the library for him. It was too late for him to change his mind about using this necklace, time was already running out and soon Voldemort would expect some progress. Draco tucked the wrapped necklace into the pocket of his cloak and began walking toward the castle.

He met Alyce in the library and she asked, "Did you get the fresh air you needed?"

He opened his book and said, "Yes, so what should we start studying?"

The week passed with exams and scrolls due before break, which was two weeks away. December was chilly and the snow began to fall. Harry was preoccupied with his tasks for Dumbledore, Ron had his girlfriend, and Alyce and Lily were not speaking to one another still. Monday's chilly winds brought in Tuesday and then soon it was already Thursday. Even Harry, who was preoccupied with the many responsibilities placed on him, realized that something was amiss. Through the years Alyce and Lily had never had a fight that lasted this long, without good reason. Harry groaned. He didn't have time to deal with the problems of his two female friends; no one seemed to realize what else he had to deal with.

Lily checked her potion daily and it seemed that it would be done the day before the dinner and it would be ready to bottle. Lily noted the perfect color, texture, and consistency of the potion and thought to herself, "If only he knew how many perfect potions I brewed in this bathroom, maybe then he would take me seriously." She had been thinking, of course, of the Polyjuice potion she had mixed in this very stall 4 years ago. This was of course when she had been turned into a cat, which was not one of her fondest memories, and she had also been petrified though Alyce had come close to having the same fate, if not worse if Lily hadn't sent her away while she was studying. Lily sighed. She really didn't want to fight with Alyce but she wasn't about to back down from something she knew was true. She wasn't going to say that she was wrong just so she and Alyce could be on speaking terms again. She played through that time in the library in her head over and over to make sure that every fact she had relayed to Alyce had been true and accurate. She knew that Draco wasn't playing around, and though injuring her in the way that he had might have been an accident, she was sure he wasn't at all worried about her well being when he stormed out of the library. Sure she wasn't terribly injured, but what if she had been? What about what he had done to Harry, leaving him for dead on a train. Lily knew for sure if Harry hadn't been found he could have easily drowned in his own blood, or he could have been trampled to death if a large group of people had found their way onto the train. The worst thought of all is that he would have died slowly from water deprivation from being left on the floor of the train for days. Lily shivered. Draco certainly had the malice to be a killer, but did that make him a killer? Lily wasn't sure, but she was sure that she didn't want Alyce to be his victim to test her theory.

Alyce hadn't seen much of Draco since their time in the forbidden forest and then their small amount of time in the library. When they had studied in the library Alyce could see how withdrawn he was. They ended their studying early and as they both stood facing one another closely Alyce closed her eyes and leaned forward expecting him to kiss her, but instead she felt the cool breeze of his cloak as he swept past her. She had blushed bright red and she hadn't heard from him since then.

Saturday afternoon Lily's stomach was in knots. She was tempted to just opt out of the dinner. Snape would never know and he would get what he wanted, a dateless night. Lily was especially having trouble with her makeup. She didn't normally wear makeup so she was having a hard time getting it just right. "Damnit!" she said throwing the brush to the makeup she had gotten from Alyce for Christmas last year. She had just had about enough of it and she was just going to have to cancel. She couldn't go looking like she did.

"Holy shit," Alyce said walking into the common room and getting a look at Lily's face. "Lose a bet?"

Lily glared at her and wiped the makeup off of her face. She lay down on the bed and curled up under the blankets covering her head.

"Didn't you have a date tonight?" Alyce asked. They hadn't talked all week and even Lily was surprised at her statement as she popped her head up from under the blankets.

"I did," Lily said burying her head back under the blankets.

"Did?" Alyce asked. "You aren't skipping out are you? Damnit Lily you promised me I could do your damn makeup you are not skipping out on this guy to mope around in the common room all night!"

She yanked Lily out from under the blankets. "Oh hell, you're not even dressed. We have a lot of work to do!"

"Aren't you pissed at me?" Lily asked surprised.

"A little, you shouldn't have interfered on my behalf, but I put you in a position where you felt like you had to. We are both stubborn bitches, but that doesn't mean we're not friends anymore."

"Sorry for saying that," Lily said hanging her head.

"Eh, no hard feelings," Alyce said. "You can make up for it by sitting still while I get to work. It's not often I get do this and it's got to be perfect."

For the next two hours Alyce and Lily talked. Lily was careful about the touchy subject of Draco, and if she brought him up she tried to say at least one nice thing about him so as to not alienate Alyce again. It was difficult, because she had a bad feeling about Draco, but she had no proof other than what had happened in the library and that wasn't good enough for Alyce. Lily knew that should bother her more, but she also knew that she did have a prejudice against Draco because of his family. For all she knew Draco could have been having a bad day, but still it chilled her to the bones thinking about it. Mostly she tried to keep quiet about the subject if she could and she let Alyce do most of the talking on that front.

Finally after three hours of work Alyce let Lily see herself. Lily almost didn't recognize herself all made up. Her hair was curled evenly instead of the uneven frizzy curls she usually sported. Her hair was pinned up off of her back and hung at her shoulders. Her face looked creamy with a little bit of blush on both cheeks. Lily was surprised, it looked natural. "Wow," Lily said barely able to recognize herself in the mirror.

"Hey just because I wear heavy makeup doesn't mean I'm not good with makeup on other people," Alyce said laughing.

Lily smiled. "It's perfect," she said.

"Oh!" Alyce said suddenly getting up and walking over to her trunk. She pulled out a pair delicate red heels and a small red handbag. "I forgot I had these which match that dress."

Lily hugged Alyce tightly. "Thank you!"

"Oh jeez, well I hope this guy is worth all this work," Alyce said laughing. "Oh I packed something for you in the handbag, you know, just in case."

Lily opened the handbag and found a condom. She blushed brightly. "Haha," she said her stomach now flipping back and forth. She hadn't even thought about sex. She thought it was just going to be a night of dancing and maybe a few kisses if he liked Rachel, but that's all she thought would come of the night.

"Hey with the way you are going to look he won't be able to resist. You might as well be protected if he is going to pop your cherry."

"There will be no deflowering tonight," Lily said clasping the handbag, but leaving the condom inside of it.

"Well I'm crossing me fingers for you," Alyce said laughing.

Lily cast the undetectable extending charm on the red handbag. Alyce laughed as she placed the red dress, shoes, a cloak to wear over the dress, two vials of aging potion, and her wand into the handbag. "You'll have to teach me that charm, you never know when it will come in handy," Alyce said laughing.

Lily waved to Alyce and walked out of the common room in her cloak, and Hogwarts attire. She didn't want to look out of the ordinary before taking the aging potion and she wanted to do that out of sight. She walked into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and drank down one quarter of the potion in the small vial. It wasn't very much, but she wanted to monitor the changes slowly. She would hate to look like Fred and George had two years previously. She looked in the mirror and noted small changes, but she still looked like herself. She drank another quarter and saw that she looked a few years older, but still young. She drank the other half of the vial and looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled. She had brought another vial just in case, but it seemed her measurements were correct. One vial had added ten years to her age approximately. She was just over 25 years old if she had to guess, probably about 26 or at least that's the information she would give if asked. It was still ten years younger than Snape, but it was acceptable. She used the color change charm on her hair and eyes. She gave her eyes a soft brown, but kept a little bit of the green in them. Her hair took on a slight shade of red and she smiled. She didn't look much like herself she noted. She stripped out of the Hogwarts attire and slipped into the dress. She tried to wear the sexiest underwear she owned, she didn't own much unfortunately. She didn't know what was going to happen tonight, but she was going to be ready for anything. She slipped the dress overtop and put on the red shoes. She fixed her hair in the mirror making sure that none of the hairpins had moved. She took a look at herself in the mirror all done up. She was taken aback by the woman in the mirror. She had the look of confidence that Lily had been hoping for. She put the Hogwarts attire in the red handbag and walked out of the bathroom. She had a silky black hooded cloak to wear in case they were going outside. She had sewn it up from a set of black curtains that she had found in the basement of her home that had never been put up the summer before. She thought it might come in handy during the winter. It seemed to match the dress pretty well and added a bit of mystery to her. Also she thought some people might question her coming in without a coat because she was supposed to be coming from somewhere outside of Hogwarts.

She began walking hearing the small click clack of the heels she was wearing. She noted that they had a musical tone to them. She stopped dead in her tracks when she remembered something that had escaped her earlier. "I have no idea where this dinner is!" she thought to herself. She also had no idea what time it started. She saw her entire evening begin to fall apart around her. She walked with her head down to the ground as she made her way back up to the dormitory. She felt like a moron for not double-checking the time and place in her letter's to Snape.

She ran into a house elf who excused himself. Lily instantly recognized the house elf as Dobby.

"Hello," Lily said to house elf. "Perhaps you could help me. I am here to accompany one of the professors to the faculty dinner and I am afraid that I have forgotten the time and place. Do you have any idea when and where it is?"

"The great hall miss and I believe it just started twenty minutes ago," Dobby said.

"Oh," Lily said. "Thank you!" she said breaking into a run for the great hall. She would make a late appearance, but hey better late than never.

Severus Snape smiled. He had won; he had obviously scared the woman away. His smile was a smile of victory. Minerva was scowling at him but he held up the letter Rachel had sent him to prove that he wasn't making up his date and that he had been ditched so therefore it wasn't his problem. "If you don't mind I am going to leave now." Severus said standing up.

As soon as he stood up, however, a black hooded, cloaked figure walked into the room. The figure talked to Argus who seemed to be quite taken by the figure. Argus pointed to Severus and the hooded figure slipped the hood from her head. Severus felt his heart speed up as he got a look at the woman under the black cloak.

Lily saw Severus, but felt the need to ask the Filch, who was checking people in, where her date was. She wasn't supposed to know what he looked like. She was taken aback by him. His hair looked, clean and he was wearing dress robes, though they were a bit shabby. She guessed Minerva must have helped him get ready so he could look presentable. Lily suppressed a giggle thinking of Minerva forcing him to wash his hair. Lily handed her black cloak and red handbag to Filch who put them in a designated spot to be picked up later.

Severus got a good look at the woman as she walked toward him. He tried to muster up a sneer. He wasn't about to let this woman best him. He had been tempted by beautiful women before, though none of them had resembled Lily Evans this much. This woman wasn't exactly like her but the redish curly hair and soft features did seem to illicit a response from him nonetheless.

"Hello," Lily said politely. "I'm Rachel."

Severus sneered at her. "I know who you are, damn woman, you're twenty minutes late. You're lucky I waited up for you."

Lily held her ground. "Surprised you stuck around twenty minutes longer than you needed to. I would have guessed you would have been out in the first ten minutes when you saw that your date was nowhere to be found."

Snape grumbled. She was right of course, he had been waiting to meet this woman all week and to make her night an absolute hell, but he wasn't about to admit that to her. "By the end of the night you'll be wishing you hadn't shown up at all," Severus said in hushed tones to her.

Lily's heart fluttered at his words. She wasn't sure why those words had that kind of effect on her, but she knew that there was passion in that statement whether it had been in malice or not. This was part of the game, and she was determined to win it.

"I'll be the judge of that," she said as she sat down at the table with Severus, pulling out her own chair as he refused to do it for her. Minerva scowled at him, but he just smiled.

The seating arrangements were set in two couple pairs so Severus and Lily were situated at a table with Minerva and her date.

"Well, Miss Johansen," Minerva said trying to make small talk. "Where are you from?"

"Please, call me Rachel. I'm from a little community outside of London," Lily said.

"Fascinating," Snape said sarcastically.

"Well," Rachel said with just as much venom. "Where are you from Professor Snape?"

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Snape said coldly.

Minerva's date seemed to become uneasy by the tension at the table. "Minerva, would you like to dance?" he asked nervously.

"I would love to Charles," she said getting up from the table. "You two should join us." Minerva said as her date cringed at the idea.

"I would rather be dipped into a cauldron of scalding oil," Severus said.

"Suit yourself," Lily said getting up from the table. She slid across the floor in her heels and Severus watched her curiously. This woman was going to be fun, he could already see that, and she wasn't hard on the eyes, though he would never admit that to her. He watched her walk over to Filch and a smile crept to his face. He looked down at his watch. "Only took me five minutes to chase her off," he thought to himself. "A new record."

He got ready to get up from the table and leave as his date had until he noticed that she was not leaving, but she was talking to Argus. Both Argus and Severus had shock covering their faces as he stepped from behind the coat check to dance with her.

"What is she getting at?" Severus wondered.

Lily had no idea what she was doing. She had pegged Severus Snape as the jealous type. Still she felt nasty with Filch's filthy hands on her waist slowly creeping their way down to her butt. She wasn't sure how long she could keep up with this bluff before she stepped on Filch's foot.

Severus felt heat rising in his chest. He told himself he wasn't going to rise to her bait, as he knew she would bait him, but watching another man's hands on what was his was not something he stood for anymore. He separated the two by saying, "I think it is time I danced with my date, thank you Argus."

Argus stepped away from Lily cursing himself under his breath for not grabbing her ass when he had a chance. Severus took his date by the waist and pulled her in closely.

"It seems you have found my weakness wench," he said to her.

"And what is that?" she asked whispering in his ear as she pulled closer to him.

"You are going to regret this night yet vixen," he growled into her ear. She felt her knees begin to get wobbly. "It seems I have found your weakness as well," he said grinning.

The song ended and Minerva and her date went back to the abandoned table to eat. Severus and Lily walked to the table as well and did not speak to one another for a while. Severus poured Lily a drink and said, "Rachel have some wine, get into the spirit of things."

Minerva looked at Severus like he had just set himself on fire. Rachel nodded and drank the wine as Severus did. He was able to get it down faster than she could. She choked it down trying not to show that this was her first drink of wine.

"Hmm, another perhaps, maybe a toast?" Severus said refilling her glass. "To Dumbledore for setting up this spectacular date," he said sarcastically drinking down another glass of wine. Lily downed hers as well ignoring the burn it left in her throat.

Severus danced with Lily again loosening up from the wine. He wasn't drunk, but he wasn't as abrasive as he usually was. Lily however, was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. She wasn't drunk either, but she was getting tipsy.

"No more wine for me," Lily said to Severus. "You got me to drink the first two, but if I didn't know any better I would think you were trying to get me drunk."

"Never," Severus said sarcastically. "Either way I wouldn't need alcohol to have my way with you. You clearly want every man in the room drooling over you with the way you dressed yourself. If you were showing any more cleavage, well it wouldn't leave much to the imagination now would it?"

"Are you trying to insult me Professor Snape?" Lily asked. "Or is this your strange way of complimenting me?"

"I would take it as an insult Miss Johansen. You may be fooling those out there, but I see that you are a desperate little vixen who would easily let any man in the room have his way with her," Severus said spinning her around the floor.

Lily pushed into him and began forcing the dance her way. Severus pushed back with as much force and the dance began to take form. Each put in force and the two glided across the floor furiously. This dance felt so strange and yet so familiar to Severus. He felt like he had danced like this before, some time and some place.

The moment was magical for Lily. This was exactly what she had been hoping for. She had won him over, as someone else. There was hope, and that was all Lily needed to know. Maybe one day, she could be with him, but as the dance churned on Lily knew this night couldn't last. She felt her heart sinking at that thought, but soon chased that thought away. She had to enjoy the time she had, because it was all she would have.

The song continued and Lily finally said turning her head away from Severus, "I wouldn't sleep with any men in this room, contrary to your belief."

Severus almost felt sorry for the comment, but he couldn't help firing another question at her. "Not even me, eh?" he questioned.

"It is going to take a lot of effort on your part to bed me Severus Snape, and let's face it I just don't think you have it in you," Lily said smiling triumphantly.

"Is that so Miss Johanse?" he said quickening the pace of the dace spinning her several times until she thought she would be dizzy. "I think you may find that you will be begging me by the end of this night. I of course will oblige with enough "coaxing"" he said kissing her as the song ended in a crescendo.

Lily blushed as she saw the room was staring at the couple. It seemed that their dance had been quite impressive. The two walked over to their table quietly.

"I think things are coming to an end soon Severus," Minerva said. "You are free from your obligation, you can send your poor date home," she added laughing.

"I will accompany you out of the castle Miss Johansen," Severus said taking her hand and pulling her from the table.

Lily got her things from the coat check and the couple turned the corner. Lily was surprised when she was not being led to the front doors of the castle. She was being led down to the dungeons. "I don't understand, I thought you were supposed to be sending me on my way."

"You can't tease me in such a way and then not expect me to want something in return he said pressing her body against the wall of the abandoned corridor. He kissed her lips furiously. "You said before you didn't think I had the effort in me to bed you, well Miss Johansen, I am about to prove you wrong."

He lead her into his room which had an entrance away from the Slytherin common room portrait hole that the rest of the Slytherins used. She entered his room and he instantly began kissing her again.

"You planned this didn't you Miss Johansen," he said taking in the sight of her finally from head to toe. "I must say I despise this color," he said following the curve lines of her body with his hands. "Perhaps we should be rid of it?"

He reached for the zipper in the back. Lily's breaths became shallow. "Sssseverrrussssss," she said feeling his hands down her back as the dress fell from her chest and he pulled it from her waist until it was in a pile on the floor.

"Mmmm," he said. "I want to hear you screaming that name," he groaned into her ear as kissed her neck.

Lily's began undressing him too, but he smacked her hand out of the way. "You are getting ahead of yourself, and you forget who is in charge here," he said grabbing her breast through the fabric of her bra.

He unbuttoned his shirt for her. "That's all for now, until I see you fully that is," he said taking in her half naked body. "Black bra and panties, you were expecting me to see this weren't you my little vixen?" Severus asked seductively.

Lily melted. She was his now, there was no use fighting him. She wanted to see how far he would take her, even though he didn't know it was her who he was being intimate with.

Lily looked at his bare chest and saw the scars on it. "Oh," she said reaching out to touch the scars softly.

Severus quickly buttoned his top obviously angered. "No," she said getting her courage back. She moved his hands out of the way and looked at his chest again. Severus got angry he was expecting her to ask millions of questions when all he wanted was a hot, convenient fuck. Instead he was surprised to feel her soft lips covering each inch of his skin covering his chest. His sensitive skin reacted to her soft touches and he couldn't hold back. He had to have her.

"I.. need you," Severus said feeling a moment of weakness.

Lily pulled off his shirt and then his pants and boxers. His shoes and socks were off and he stood naked in front of her. She moved his hands to her bra and helped him unhook the contraption. He slipped her panties off and soon Severus got his wish. She screamed his name as he fucked her furiously. He had never ridden a woman so hard, and it had been many years since he had fucked a woman at all, except for the accidental fuck he had given Lily, but the intensity was nothing like what he was giving Rachel. He wanted to rip her apart, for caring, for showing him a good time, for seeing his scars, for getting him naked, for causing him to care about her. Most of all he wanted to rip her apart for his wanting to feel her lips again covering his chest with small soft kisses. He couldn't have her, just like the Lily's before and it made him angry. When he had finally finished Rachel was a mess. Her hair was everywhere, frizzy, her makeup was smeared, and yet she still looked lovely. She had fallen asleep soon after he had finished and he felt himself falling asleep as well. He fell asleep with his arm wrapped around her.

Alyce relaxed on her bed after sending Lily off. She was a little jealous honestly. Lily's love life was starting and she felt like hers was as cold and unforgiving as the winter snow that was falling thick that night. She needed to get her mind off of things. She sent a note to Draco by owl.

_Draco, _

_ Are you free for a midnight trist?_

_ Alyce_

Draco sent a response back quickly and his read,

_ Alyce, _

_ Meet me in front of the Room of Requirement in ten minutes. Filch is busy for 30 more minutes, but be careful nonetheless._

_ Draco. _

Ten minutes didn't leave Alyce much time to make herself up. She decided to go natural. It would be dark and spontaneous and she felt more alive than she had in weeks.

She ran down to the room of requirement and met Draco in front of it. Soon they were inside on the bed making out furiously as if it was their last night together. Alyce stripped Draco down to nothing and instantly got down on her knees and showed him how much she missed him. He had a hard time holding back his enthusiasm. "Alyce… oh damn… stop.. stop or I won't have anything left for later." Draco said breathlessly.

Alyce got up and Draco stripped her down as well. "I feel I should repay you for that deed," he said spreading her legs and finding her sweet spot with his tongue. Alyce had never had a guy willingly do that for her and instantly felt the strong pulsations in her loins.

"Oh Draco!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

This encouraged Draco to continue and he had her on the edge before she had to stop him, "I want to save it as well, do you have a condom?"

Draco sheathed himself with a condom and then he entered Alyce. This was more passion than she had shared with any of her other flings. She felt herself connecting with Draco with every thrust, and not just physically. They both released simultaneously and they lay on the bed together in a sweaty heap. Alyce smiled at Draco. Whenever she had gotten close to a guy like this she broke it off. She was afraid of feeling like this, but with Draco, she wasn't afraid. This is how it was supposed to be. This is how she wanted it to be.

"Alyce," Draco said moving away from her.

"Draco," Alyce said kissing him.

"We can't do this anymore," Draco said looking away.

"Yeah, I guess we did probably come close to getting caught," Alyce said.

"No, I mean we can't do this, I am dangerous Alyce. I care about you, but I can't do this to you anymore. I haven't been honest, and I can't be honest with you. You have to know that something strange is going on. I thought I could hide it, but you aren't stupid and it was an insult to your intelligence for me to think that you would be ignorant enough to fall for this. We can't be together anymore Alyce I'm bad for you," Draco said getting up.

"Don't do this!" Alyce screamed at him surprised at the emotion behind this. She usually felt nothing for her flings, but this was her boyfriend. She gave herself to him, she let him have her emotionally and she never let anyone have that. She protected it, building walls around it surrounding it with flings so people would get the idea that she was slut so they wouldn't think anything else, so they wouldn't dig into her life.

"Alyce, please don't cry. I can't do this. I don't want you anymore!" he shouted at her.

Draco felt awful for saying it and he couldn't look at her when he said it. He left quickly. He could only imagine what her face looked like when he said that.

Alyce's face was a mask of shock and then the misery hit her. She couldn't stop sobbing and she didn't care that she couldn't carry herself back up the stairs. She collapsed her in bed and curled up defensively. She should have never opened herself up like that; she didn't know how she could have ever trusted anyone with her soul laid out like that. She knew now that she could never make that mistake again. She lay in her bed violently sobbing as she began to build her impenetrable walls back up and this time she was reinforcing them.


	11. Then the Morning Comes

Chapter 11: Then the Morning Comes

The morning after was painful for both Alyce and Lily. Lily woke up and sighed. She knew that it was over now, and she was sore, but she didn't regret it. She rolled over ready to face Alyce's numerous questions about her night, but then she realized she wasn't in the dormitory. She tried not to move the bed too much as she tried to get a feel of where she was. "I never left his room!" her mind screamed.

She got out of bed quickly trying not to wake him. She looked at herself in the mirror in his bathroom, and nearly screamed. She looked like herself again, and that was bad. She needed to get out and fast. She tried to locate her dress in his room, and her underwear. She didn't have much time and she hoped she wouldn't have to look too hard for her clothes. She scrambled around the room trying not to knock over anything in her nervousness. She luckily found all of her clothes and dressed. She threw the cloak over herself just in time.

Snape awoke and saw the cloaked woman walking out of his door. He sighed to himself. She was gone, and he had a feeling that was the last time he would hear from her. He got up and started the shower. He let the hot water roll down his body as he washed the last bits of her from him. He scrubbed until he couldn't smell her perfume on his skin, until he couldn't feel her kisses, until he couldn't smell her love. He was glad she was gone, love was complicated.

Lily made it to Moaning Mrytle's bathroom undetected. She slipped the dress into the handbag along with the hooded cloak, and the red shoes. She dressed in the Hogwarts uniform she had been wearing the night before. She washed the smeared makeup off of her face. She sighed, "Fairy tale is over," she said to herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She couldn't guess what time it was, but she hoped no one had noticed she was missing. She was sure Alyce had probably repaid her the debt of stuffing her bed. Lily sighed again. She didn't really want to explain what had happened the night before, sure it would be one of her fondest memories, but it was something she couldn't share with others, it was something that was going to be painful to think about in the following months.

Alyce looked over at Lily's bed. "Damnit, where did she slip off too? I really need to talk to her," Alyce thought. As soon as that thought crossed her mind Lily walked into the room looking quite disheveled. "What the hell happened to you?" Alyce said getting a good look at her. "What time did you get in last night?"

"I didn't come back last night, I lost track of time," Lily said. She might as well be honest with Alyce though a thought crossed her mind after that and she said, "Why? Oh no, do you think anyone else knows I never made it in last night?"

"I doubt it, Professor McGonagall never made her rounds last night she must have been too drunk from that faculty party thing that was going on last night," Alyce said. "Or at least that's what Lavender said, I wasn't awake as you can guess since I didn't know you didn't make it back. By the way I want details on that."

"There isn't much to say, it isn't going to work out Alyce, he and I, we are from different worlds. He can't be with me, I can't be with him, we're just wrong now," Lily said swallowing breaths of air heavily to keep herself from crying.

"I know that story," Alyce said bitterly. "Draco and I broke up last night for the same reason. You were right, and you were wrong Lily. He's definitely hiding something, but he isn't a danger to me anymore. He doesn't want me anymore," Alyce said hanging her head.

Lily patted Alyce on the back and sat down next to her. "I'm so sorry," Lily said. "I didn't want to be right about this, I swear I didn't."

"It's not your fault," Alyce said. "Anyway, you know how I bounce back. Just because he doesn't want me doesn't mean I can't find some other guy. He was just another guy."

Lily didn't believe Alyce for a moment. She knew that it was a defense mechanism, she had always known, but she had never said anything to Alyce about it. She knew it was the way that Alyce dealt with things, and though she disapproved of the way Alyce handled things, she knew that it was useless to say anything about it. "I suppose that is true," Lily said.

"You should find someone else too," Alyce said.

"I don't think I'm going to bounce back so quickly," Lily said smiling. "I'm not looking for a fling, I suppose if I do find someone to be with, I want it to be more long term you know?"

Suddenly Alyce's cat jumped on the bed causing both girls to scream in shock. "BUG!" Alyce yelled. "Don't scare me like that!" If cats could smile Bug would have been grinning. "Little shit always likes to sneak up on me."

Lily thought it was just the distraction that was needed. "Hey, do you want to get some breakfast or something?"

"Yeah, but, and no offense Lily, you should probably take a shower. You reek of sex, and by the way congrats on losing the big V. You can join the rest of us now, if I weren't angry with this guy for breaking up with you I would have to shake his hand," Alyce said laughing.

Lily sniffed herself. "Nah you won't be able to smell it, you're a newbie. Take my word for it," Alye said.

Lily nodded and made her way to the bathroom to shower. She let the warm water run over her for a few moments before washing her skin. She could still smell him on her skin; he smelled like cedar, she guessed his dress clothes must have been placed in either a cedar chest or wardrobe to keep the moths away from it. That dress would be the last remnants of their night together. She almost wished she had taken something from the room, not something he would miss, just something to remember him by. She thought about it more and decided it was best that she didn't. She needed to stop thinking about him, she had her night, and she had seen that indeed she did stand a chance after things cleared up. Maybe after this whole thing was over, after Voldemort was finally gone for good, she would tell him, if either of them survived this war. She finished up her shower and dressed herself for a brand new day.

Alyce sat on her bed and waited for Lily to be done with her shower. Alyce took that time to think about exactly what Draco had said to her. It had been raw the night before and hard to really believe that any of it was even real. She was in shock that night, but now she was able to sort through it was she was beginning to feel a horrible numbness fill her body. "This isn't the first relationship you have ever been in girl, snap out of it," Alyce said to herself.

"No, but it was the only relationship you thought might actually have a chance, the only relationship you gave a shit about," her mind retorted.

Alyce ignored the voice of retort in her head. She was done thinking about it for now and in a few minutes, Lily would be done with her shower so they could get some breakfast.. She waited for Lily to come back from the shower and when she did, Alyce said, "Much better. Let's get some food now."

Lily nodded and they both walked into the common room, instantly gagging when they came upon a couple on the couch. "Get a room," Alyce said to Lavender and Ron who were making out on the "You know we all have to sit on that thing."

Lavender glared at Alyce and Ron said, "What are you and Draco having a fight, quit being such a prude."

Alyce's mouth hung open and she didn't even see Lily leave her side. As soon as she was able to close her mouth from the shock she heard Lily's hand make a connection with Ron's face. The loud snap quieted the room. Ron stood in shock. "What was that for!" he demanded rubbing his face.

"For being an insensitive prat," Lily said turning to leave.

"You used to be a nice girl Lily, when did you turn into such a bitch?" Ron asked.

Lily ignored his comment and left the common room and Alyce followed behind her.

"What was that all about? I could have taken care of it," Alyce said.

"He deserved it and he has deserved it for many months. Just because he has a girlfriend doesn't give him the right to treat either of us like crap," Lily said.

"Damn, look out Lily's on a rampage," Alyce said punching her arm lightly. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I honestly," Lily said smiling.

Alyce sighed and stretched her arms as they walked toward the Great Hall. "You know I haven't seen you hit anyone like that since you punched Draco in the face three years ago," Alyce said laughing.

Lily and Alyce sat at the Gryffindor table and began to dig in. "I always wondered, why pumpkin juice?" Lily said looking at the cup on the table. "I mean out of all the possible juice beverages the least likely would be pumpkin. Even carrot would rate higher as a possible juice component."

Alyce shrugged. "I never really thought about it," she said raising her glass. "It is juice, I drink it, and all is well," she added gulping down the juice.

Lily shook her head. Keeping her mind off of Severus was going to be harder than she thought. She tried to convince herself that it had been worth it, but she knew seeing him in class again was going to be a battle in and of itself. She had to find some other way to fill her time, something else to think about. She looked over at Alyce and said, "Hey you going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

"I was planning on going," Alyce said. She didn't want to admit that Draco had been her first choice to go with.

"The four of us can go, it's been a long time since we've gone together as a group just to have fun," Lily said. "Though, well, I suppose it will just be the three of us, I doubt Ron will be able to separate himself from Lavender long enough to hang out."

"Yeah," Alyce said not really feeling up to doing anything. She just wanted to lie around and wallow. This was very bizarre usually she was the one ready to jump back into things and Lily would wallow in her own self pity until Alyce finally knocked some damn sense into her. How strange it was to see things from the other perspective. "So how long are you going to keep up this charade? You always deflect when something is on your mind," Alyce said.

Lily lowered her eyes slightly. "You read me far too well sometimes. Yes, I was actually trying not to think about last night. I had a good time, but all good things must come to an end eventually you know. It's too bad… I do wish I had had more time," she said somewhat dreamily. Alyce was reminded of Luna Lovegood, with her dreamy sort of demeanor. She hadn't talked to Luna in a while actually, none of them had, they had all been too busy. Luna had helped them out majorly the previous year and since that battle, since Harry had lost Sirius, none of them had thought it right to bring it up. No one wanted to open up the fresh wounds that they all hoped Harry would be able to heal from. She shook her head. She was letting her thoughts get away from her again.

The rest of the breakfast was eaten in silence. Lily finished first, scarfing the food down quickly. "I think I'm going to work on some scrolls in the library. You are welcome to join me if you want."

"Nah, I'm going to take a personal day," Alyce said stretching. She didn't have much of an appetite, so she was pushing her food around her plate.

"Ok, well the invitation is still open if you want to join me later," Lily said getting up from the table.

Alyce sat at the table alone. She knew she should join Lily to study, they hadn't been spending much time together as of late, and Alyce's studies were starting to show signs of descent. She couldn't handle being around people today, not for long periods of time that is. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed for the day with a good novel and forget all about the jerk that had broken up with her. She wondered how soon it would be before he had another girlfriend. She shook that thought from her head. She told herself she didn't want to think about him, and here she was thinking about him again. She needed this day to herself and then she needed to get back out on the prowl for her next fix.

Lily couldn't concentrate. She had been reading the same paragraph over and over while not really absorbing any of the knowledge. She couldn't stop thinking about the night before. She had enjoyed it, but she was beginning to believe that it might have been a mistake. She shouldn't have let him take her down to his room, she shouldn't have let him love her and then left, she shouldn't have gone along with this stupid plan she had come up with in her head at all. She should have just let it go, she should have never thought about Professor Snape again. It was wrong, what would people think if they ever found out.

"Which is why no one will ever find out," she thought to herself.


	12. Hogsmeade

Chapter 12: Hogsmeade

The morning was crisp and cold and Lily took in the air as she and her three friends set off for Hogsmeade. She had made it; she had survived. She didn't think it was possible to sit through class seeing him every day, but she managed somehow. A smile crept across her face. She still felt a burning hole in her chest, but she was going to be ok, more ok than Alyce that was. Alyce hadn't yet found another boyfriend, which was rare for her. It had only been a week since she and Draco had broken up, but Draco was back to his old self, flirting every chance he got. The flirting, of course, only furthered the pain that Alyce must be feeling.

Alyce walked between Harry and Lily. Ron was on the outside next to Harry, but careful to stay away from both girls. She knew that Ron was just afraid that if Lily had managed to snap, that it would be easy for either of them to snap on him now. He was afraid of saying something stupid and ruining everything, or at least that's what Lily had gotten from Harry. Alyce didn't talk to either of the boys often, she rarely talked to Lily. It was strange to be an island, not surrounded by a boy or friends. She felt oddly at peace and yet alone and empty.

She wondered if she even wanted another boyfriend for a while. She certainly didn't want to date anyone at Hogwarts. She knew that they all looked at her with pity. It made her feel even worse about the situation. She wondered if Draco had been enough of a man to tell everyone that he had not only broken up with her but decided to fuck her as a parting gift before divulging that it was over between them. She wondered if they would all look at him like the scum he was. She felt anger churning in her stomach. She tried to ignore it. Today was supposed to be fun, a way to relax and forget about it all. That's what she would have to do. She might find a guy outside of Hogwarts, maybe George, she hadn't dated him yet. She also knew that Oliver Wood was available now. He had some floozy girlfriend the previous year, but it seems they had broken up when he found his roommate in bed with her.

Alyce thought hard about it and decided she might send him an owl later in the week wishing him a happy holiday. It seemed so strange not to come right out and say that she wanted to sleep with someone and then give into the carnal instincts. She didn't want that, not at the moment, and she knew for sure Oliver would understand as that was the reason for his breakup. She smiled. It would be fine, she wouldn't have to have any contact, but she could use it to her advantage. Draco spent all of his time flirting with girls now, but she had a guy waiting for her over the summer and she didn't need to stoop to his whorish levels. She felt proud of herself; she had never felt that before. She was going to be ok. They were all going to be ok, well maybe not Harry. He had been looking very tired lately; Alyce, Lily and Ron all knew that something was bothering him. He had revealed bits and pieces of what Dumbledore had been telling him, actually more than bits and pieces, but Alyce hadn't had time to process all she had been told, she hadn't been thinking about anything lately.

The foursome arrived at Hogsmeade and looked at its snowy shops. The first shop that came into view was The Three Broomsticks. Harry, Ron, Lily, and Alyce continued walking. "How about we go into Zonko's first?" Ron asked as they strolled aimlessly down High street.

Lily and Alyce nodded together. The foursome walked into the shop and instantly the boys were off leaving Alyce and Lily at the entrance. "So much for sticking together the four of us," Lily laughed.

Alyce shook her head. "Let's go somewhere else," Alyce said. "I have a feeling they are going to be in here for a while, and I wasn't really interested in coming to Zonko's."

"Where would you like to go instead," Lily asked as they walked out of the shop into the snow.

"Honestly Lily? I just want to go back to my bed, back to the dormitory. At least it was warm there. I know you wanted to get everyone back together, but I don't know if that's possible right now. I'm sorry Lily, but I'm not going to pretend I want to be here, because I don't."

"Yeah," Lily said. "Neither do I actually. Still, let's at least get a butterbeer before we go back so it doesn't seem like a complete waste. Though maybe we should wait for Harry and Ron, it's the kind of thing we used to do together."

"That's exactly right Lily, it's what we USED to do. I don't know, but we are different this year."

"Alyce, we don't have much time left you know. I'm afraid that this is going to be one of the last times we are all going to be together like this. I can feel it Alyce, a bad omen, something is different, and it's going to take everything we have to keep this friendship from falling apart. The truth is we all need each other. It's always been that way. I feel change on the horizon."

"Change isn't bad Lily; it's just what it is. We'll come together when it's important; we always have as you said before. The feelings of bad omen are probably just about how far apart we have all grown, plus your probably worried about Harry, he's been stressing out lately. You are stressed out Lily, and worrying about this friendship staying together isn't helping matters. I think we just need to go back to Hogwarts and rectify the rest of the day by relaxing. I guess we could snatch the boys up and get a butterbeer before we head back though," Alyce said.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "We're growing up; I guess that naturally means apart, at least a little."

Alyce nodded and the two walked back into Zonko's, searching for Harry and Ron among the people in the shop. It was very crowded, but Lily was finally able to see Ron's red hair through the crowd of people. She excused herself as she squeezed past a couple of people. She tripped and fell flat on her back.

"Ow.." she said closing her eyes trying to suppress a few other words.

"Watch where you're going Mudblood," a cold voice answered her.

She glared up at a face she recognized. "Who let you out of your cage ferret," she said as Ron came over to help her up.

"Get lost Malfoy," Ron said pulling Lily up off of her back.

Malfoy glared and said, "I wouldn't want to surround myself with your sort anyway, Crabbe, Goyle, let's go."

"Prat," Ron said quietly. "You ok?" he asked Lily.

"I'm fine, thanks," she said. "I'm glad Alyce didn't run into him. She is having a hard enough time getting over him."

"I don't know how she could stand him, she's better off," Ron said looking around for Harry and Alyce.

"Yeah, well don't tell her that. That is the last thing she wants to here right now. Oh, sorry about slapping you a few days ago.. I was in a pretty bad mood myself; I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Ron blushed brightly. "Oh that, that was nothing, don't worry about it. Though you might want to stay away from Lavender for a while, she took it as a challenge."

Lily doubled over laughing. "It wasn't that funny," Ron said obviously hurt and embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she said wiping the laughter tears from her eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in a while. I am just laughing because I don't see how anyone could find me a threat. You and I, we are friends, thinking of as anything more, well it's a little ridiculous don't you think? I mean we found out that it doesn't work out when I dated Harry. Friends shouldn't date, it's just too awkward."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Oh! There they are," he said pointing.

Ron and Lily walked over to Harry and Alyce. "I thought we were never going to find you two," Harry said.

"Ran into someone," Ron said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well," Alyce said. "Lily and I were planning on heading back after getting a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. This whole thing was a bust, maybe we'll try again when we don't all have our minds on other things."

"Ron and I will go back with you," Harry said.

"Speak for yourself mate, I've got a lot of making up to do with Lavender. She wasn't fond of my coming to Hogsmeade with you lot instead of her. She's got a bit of a jealous streak that one."

Lily, Alyce, and Harry all began laughing and Ron blushed brighter than he had all day. "What?"

Alyce wiped her eyes. "You were right Lily, it definitely made me feel better to come here and experience Ron's humiliation. I'll never doubt you again."

The four walked to The Three Broomsticks and Lily shook her head. "We are never going to get through this crowd, let's just head back I'm freezing."

The four then began walking back, and came upon a horrifying sight as they got farther away from Hogsmeade.

They were just outside of the entrance to the village when they saw Katie Bell. Her friend screamed as Katie thrashed as if seizing. Katie was rising into the air and her friend was grabbing her ankles trying to hold her down.

The four ran over to help try to hold her down. She fell instantly and luckily Ron caught her, but couldn't hold her as she was still seizing. Harry went to get help.

"I don't know how this could have happened," Katie's friend said crying as she watched her friend writhe in pain obviously unable to recognize anyone around her.

"Harry's getting help; she's going to be ok." Lily said trying to calm Katie. "Shh Shh," Lily said rubbing her arm. "We're here someone's getting help Katie; you're going to be ok, stay with us."

Alyce and Ron looked out to see where Harry had gone. The snow had caused a white-out effect and it was hard to see in front of them. Soon they saw a familiar gigantic shape coming through the snow and much shorter figure by his side.

Hagrid moved Lily out of the way to see Katie. Soon after he picked her up her screams stopped. Hagrid ran back toward the castle with Katie. The four were left behind with Katie's friend.

"Your name is Leanne right?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Leanne said nervously.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Alyce asked.

Leanne told them about the package, which Harry and Ron found, and Harry recognized that the package contained a cursed necklace that had once been in Borgin and Burkes. The five walked back to the castle with a lot on their minds. Harry was ranting about Malfoy until Lily nudged him and pointed to Alyce. Harry grumbled.

"I still think it was him," he said under his breath.

Ron began to try to disagree with him, but they were stopped on their way into the castle by Professor McGonagall. Harry handed her the package he had carefully rewrapped to keep himself from getting exposed as well.

As they walked up to the common room after talking to Professor McGonagall, Harry brought up his concerns again.

"I'm sorry Alyce, but I know it was him as little as you would like to talk about it," he said.

"Harry, Malfoy left Hogsmeade and was back for a detention, that he was still in by the time anything happened with Katie," Alyce said frustrated. "I know you want to hate him, I want to hate him, but he didn't do this Harry, he didn't have time, the means, or the motive. He wouldn't want to kill Katie, he may hate most Gryffindors, but he had nothing against Katie Bell and he's not a killer."

"His father certainly is," Harry said.

"I am not going to argue this with you Harry Potter!" Alyce said stomping into the girl's dormitory as they entered the common room.

"I told you not to bring it up," Lily said shaking her head. "We all know you have a grudge against him, but there is just no way he could have done it and gotten back in time. I'm sorry Harry, as much as anyone would like to believe it and get him out of Hogwarts for being a pretentious stuck up prat, that's all he is, he's not a killer. Don't read more into this than there is."

Harry opened his mouth to argue again, but this time Ron shook his head. Harry threw his hands up in the air, obviously frustrated.

"Hey, I'd better check in with Lavender, she's probably frenzied. Everyone's talking about what happened to Katie. Do you think she's going to be ok?"

"I don't know," Lily said quietly. "I really hope so, that's the last thing we need is another young death."

Ron walked over to Lavender who was crying. Lily smiled at him and walked up to the dormitory to talk to Alyce.

"Ignore Harry, he's got this whole conspiracy theory nonsense clouding his mind," Lily said sitting down on Alyce's bed.

"You don't think?" Alyce asked looking over at her with a look of doubt on her face.

"No, I think you were right, he may be a prat, but he's not a killer," Lily said trying to reassure her.

"Yeah," Alyce said sounding as if she were trying to reassure herself.

Draco pounded the pillow in his dormitory. How could he have been so careless? He had gone to Zonko's to make an impression that he had gone to Hogsmeade for a few hours, had a little bit of fun, and then come back for his detention. He had unfortunately run into Potter's little Mudblood friend and Weasley. It had shaken him. He knew that Potter already suspected him, though now with no evidence to support him, Potter looked like a revenge hungry teenager, rather than someone with a valid suspicion.

Still something turned in Draco's stomach. This one had come too close, and he hadn't succeeded in killing Dumbledore. He was afraid of what would happen if he couldn't go through with it. No, the cursed necklace was much too careless, and getting Katie Bell to deliver it to Dumbledore had been even more careless. He had been foolish to think this plan would work. He didn't work hard enough at it, he got shaken, and he failed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do now, but he knew that time was running out and soon he would have to pay the piper.


	13. Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night

**Chapter 13: Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night…. or Not…**

_A/N: We have a website! Check it out on our profile there should be a homepage link. It gives pictures of all the dresses in this chapter that are mentioned as well as Rachel/Lily's dress from a previous chapter. Sorry about the lag in writing, I know we are always apologizing about that, but things have been kind of crazy. Well here is chapter thirteen. Enjoy!_

Severus Snape had all but forgotten about his one night stand with Rachel until, upon cleaning, he came across a strange pair of earrings. He recognized them at once as Rachel's he remembered taking them from her ears; he hadn't wanted them to get pulled out. He had set them on the bedside table before tearing into her. She hadn't left him any other parting gift other than those earrings. He sighed, "Stupid woman," he thought to himself.

Lily brushed her hair as Alyce walked into the room. "Harry asked Luna to go with him to that party of Slughorn's," Alyce said sitting down on her own bed.

"Oh?" Lily asked. "I like Luna, I'm sure she's ecstatic about being invited."

"I was thinking about going," Alyce said. "I know Draco can't go, and I'd love to see his face when he hears that I was able to get in with some sweet eye candy."

"I thought you and Oliver were exclusive," Lily said setting her brush down.

"I'm not sure, but it's not like I'm going to do anything with this eye candy after that night. It's just to make Draco jealous."

"Hmm well have fun," Lily said inspecting her nails.

"You should really go too Lily, I don't want you to be the only one of us not going I'll have no one to talk to when my eye candy gets boring." Alyce said.

"I won't be the only one not going, Ron isn't going either," Lily said.

"Yeah he'll probably be too busy snogging Lavender," Alyce said laughing.

Lily chuckled and Alyce said, "I think he likes you."

Lily's laugh erupted from its docile chuckle into a roaring laugh. "You have to be kidding me."

"No I'm serious Lils he totally has the hots for you, and I think you might just have a thing for him too judging by the blush on your face."

Lily pulled her hair in front of her face. "You should go with McLaggen!" Alyce said clapping her hands together.

"What!" Lily exclaimed. "He's a pig-headed jerk."

"And Ron hates him. You need to hook yourself a guy Lily, and well Ron bugs me but I think you two could be good for one another," Alyce said.

"Yeah, one big problem he's dating Lavender and I'm not so sure I want to jump back into the dating world," Lily said. "Anyway," Lily said. "What makes you think Cormac would say yes if I did ask him to go with me?"

"You're kidding right?" "He's been checking you out most of the year; you've just had your head up in the clouds too long to notice."

"I have no reason to want to get back at Ron," Lily said.

"Ah, but you do have a reason to want to get back at Lavender. Do I need to remind you how she humiliated you this week alone? She feels threatened by you, and for good reason. Ron would dump her in a second if he knew you were interested and if you make him jealous he may just start to take notice of his feelings."

"I think you're exaggerating, but I'll do it, I'll see you there and Harry and Luna," Lily said. "Anyway, I want to talk about your date. What kind of eye candy did you pick out for your date?"

"Blaise Zabini," Alyce said.

"Why does that name sound so familiar?" Lily asked tapping her head.

"Draco's friend from Slytherin," Alyce said.

"That is devious!" Lily said. "That's the Alyce I know and love."

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week," Alyce said bowing.

Lily and Alyce both dressed for Slughorn's party. Ginny was upstairs with them dressing as well. All three girls were gossiping out of ears reach of any males.

"How are you and Dean?" Lily asked while brushing through Ginny's hair while Alyce was brushing Lily's hair.

"Fine," Ginny said.

Alyce and Lily looked at one another for a moment with raised eyebrows.

After they were all dressed and ready to go, Ginny left to meet with Dean. "Are you two coming?" Ginny asked.

"We are going to meet the guys there," Lily said.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders and left. This left Lily and Alyce alone in the dormitory.

Lily and Alyce looked at themselves in the mirror. "We look like a couple of heartbreakers," Alyce said.

Alyce wore a dress of red, and it was full length, but that was the only conservative thing about it. Her dress was a halter top with a very low cut, all the way down to her stomach revealing the sides of her breasts. The dress had two slits one on each side of the leg that went up to the hip. Lily's dress was much more conservative, but cute. It was a light yellow full length strapless A line dress. The bodice was beaded with bright colors. Lily felt a bit like a Christmas tree, but she supposed it was a Christmas party.

"I am starting to doubt this whole thing, maybe I should just flake," Lily said.

"You have to go through with it now, Ron knows your going." Alyce said.

"I told you I don't like Ron, I could care less if he is jealous of me," Lily said.

"Yes, if he is jealous of you, you can stop this whole exhibitionist relationship. I am getting nauseated watching them make out in the common room. You can save us all!" Alyce said dramatically while laughing a bit.

"Fine, fine if you put it that way I suppose I can take one for the team," Lily said laughing as well.

"That's the spirit," Alyce said as they walked into the common room.

The two walked to Slughorn's office where the party was to be held. "I wonder if Luna and Harry are here yet." Lily asked looking around before entering the party.

"There you are," Cormac said to Lily.

Lily instantly shot Alyce a "please don't make me go through with this" look as she was swept away into Slughorn's office.

Alyce chuckled a bit to herself and then saw her date. She smiled and waved to him. She strutted over to him and said, "You look good," with almost a purr to her voice.

Blaise seemed to almost be drooling as he looked her over. "You going to stand there or are we going to go in?" Alyce asked with her held tilted just slighty.

Blaise just nodded. Alyce was sure to greet as many people as she could while Blaise was at her side. She wanted to be sure that they were noticed and that word got back to Draco.

Meanwhile Lily was trapped. Cormac was blocking her only exit, and she couldn't interrupt him to make up an excuse to get away from him. She finally saw her chance when he paused for a moment to recollect on one of the saves he had made during Keeper tryouts.

"I need to use the restroom," Lily said. She hurried off before Cormac could have a chance to say anything or ask when she would be back.

Harry saw Lily through the crowd and said the person in which he was speaking to, "I've just seen a friend of mine sorry,"

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded after he approached Lily. "Shouldn't you be with your date."

"My date is a nightmare," Lily said. "And before you say anything I did do this to get back at Ron, and no you may not tell him how badly this is going, and no I have no plans of any further ways to get back at Ron since this has been such a fantastic disaster."

"What are you a bloody mind reader?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I have to keep moving, if you see Cormac, well you didn't see me," Lily said frantically as she hustled away.

A minute after she had said that she noticed Cormac walking toward him. "Have you seen Lily?"

"No, I can't say that I have," Harry said.

Cormac groaned and continued walking through the crowd of people.

Alyce was having a great time. She had waved at Harry and Luna and watched Harry's expression of shock. She wasn't sure if it was over the dress choice she had made or over the eye candy on her arm. "Hi Harry," Alyce said as she passed him with Blaise before he had a chance to respond.

Lily saw the Cormac was now talking to someone across the room leaving her safe. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. He had come close to finding her earlier, but she had managed to get slip past Professor Trelawney.

Severus Snape felt very uncomfortable, but he had a feeling Draco would be showing up soon. He had made an unbreakable vow, and he was going to have to see it through. He scanned the room again. No signs of Draco yet, but he was sure that he would see him soon. He scanned a few places again noting that Draco's girlfriend, well he suppose ex-girlfriend was at the party. He sneered at the half clothed girl. He looked farther past and saw the back of a very familiar head.

"Why would she be here?" he wondered to himself. It was definitely Rachel, he could be certain of that. She was wearing yellow and her hair in the same way she had that night.

Lily felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice whisper in her ear, "You looked better in red."

Lily spun around looking quite shocked to be face to face with Snape. Snape blushed brightly. "I thought you were someone else."

Lily was so stunned she couldn't say anything. "He knows," she thought in the deepest pits of her stomach and she instantly felt sick. She didn't care about Cormac, she was honestly happy to have ditched him and was just going to go back up to her dormitory.

Severus Snape felt his skin crawl and not necessarily in a bad way. How could he mistake a student for a grown woman? He supposed they did look a little alike, maybe if Lily were older, dyed her hair, and changed her eye color. "I need to get laid," he thought to himself "If I live through this, I am getting smashed."

Alyce saw Draco being dragged in by Filch. She smiled devilishly to herself. She got closer with Blaise in tow. She caught Draco's eyes and with that kissed Blaise hard on the lips. She heard Professor Slughorn clearing his throat and she broke off the kiss blushing as if she hadn't known people were watching. She saw Draco's face fall slightly but his expression was one of stone. He was taken away by Snape and that was the last time she had seen him for the night.

"I'm feeling a bit tired," Alyce lied. For some reason getting back at Draco hadn't felt as good as she was expecting it to. She had been expecting a huge amount of shock, but she got such a cold look from him, she knew something was off. She shook her head. She couldn't think about his problems right now. He didn't want her anymore, and she didn't need to worry herself with his issues.

Alyce came upstairs and found that Lily was already there and dressed in her night clothes.

"Did you have fun?" Alyce asked.

Lily turned to Alyce and said, "I spent the whole night hiding from my date and then I ran into Harry who knows that I was having a horrible time. All in all it didn't work out, I'm going to get out of here as quickly as possible tomorrow so I don't run into Cormac before break and then I'm going to come back and pretend that we never went on a date and hope he moves on once he sees that I was truly avoiding him all throughout that party. He may be thick, but I think he'll catch on after a few days."

Alyce shrugged. "I guess that happens sometimes."

"What's wrong?" Lily said. "You are far more expressive than that, what's on your mind?"

"I saw Draco at the party, I think Harry is right Lily, something is off about him, I think he's gone and mixed himself up in something terrible," Alyce said.

Lily hadn't expected that. Alyce NEVER sounded so worried, especially not about a guy. "You loved him didn't you?" Lily asked giving her friend a hug.

"I did, and I think part of me still does." Alyce said.

The next morning the foursome had packed their trunks and were now standing in the common room. "Well, I guess that's it then, have a good break," Lily said walking toward the portrait hole. There had only been a few times when she had gone somewhere other than her home for Christmas Break, and this was not going to be one of those years. Elaine was getting worse, and she knew that Sam would need a break of his own.

Alyce contemplated staying at Hogwarts. The only thing that kept her from staying was in invite from Oliver to visit him for the holidays. She knew she would only spend a few days with him and then the rest in her flat alone, but it was a much more pleasant idea than hanging around Hogwarts, watching Draco hit on every female with a pulse even if she was worried about him and may still love him. She sighed to herself as she lugged her trunks out of the portrait hole.


	14. Down With the Sickness

_**Chapter 14: Down With the Sickness**_

_I apologize gratidously for the lack of updating. Both Addie and I have had to move to new places so it's been difficult to update. I am working on the next chapter so hopefully it will be up much sooner than this one was. Please keep reading and reviewing. _

The common room was quiet as the foursome was reunited after a long Christmas vacation. Harry and Ron had had spent the time at the Burrow and seemed chipper. Alyce and Lily however looked tired and worried. Christmas vacation had not been as kind to them.

Alyce had spent her time with Oliver Wood. They had hooked up a few times, but Alyce felt nothing between them. Usually she at least enjoyed the company of a man, but this time she had barely been able to fake it. She ended up leaving earlier than she expected causing her to spend more time alone in her empty apartment with Bug thinking about Draco. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts, but dreading seeing the face of the boy she spent her vacation missing.

Lily hadn't had an unusual visit home. Elaine had seemed in decent health, thought she had struggled to breathe a few times during one night. Lily had gotten to see her brother Sam, though the two barely spoke at this point. Sam didn't hold a grudge against her anymore, but the two had grown apart since Lily had started at Hogwarts. Lily listened to Sam's band play a little bit and saw his face light up when she took care of Elaine so he could go to his first gig with said band. They were good, she had filled in for vocals before when their vocalist had gotten ill, but that was more than a year ago. She tried not to think about Severus Snape, but anymore that was becoming difficult. After he had mistaken her for Rachel at the Christmas party she knew it was just a matter of time before he put two and two together. He would know her dirty little secret before she even had a chance to tell him herself. She was tempted once during vacation to send him an owl explaining it all, apologizing for it all, but she stopped herself. What good would that do? He would still be just as furious, and then the secret would be out and there would be no way to refute it. She just had to forget that night ever happened. She had to give up on Severus Snape and try to move on.

"Did you have a nice break?" Lily asked Alyce as she was unpacking her trunk.

"It was alright," Alyce lied pasting a smile across her face.

"Spend some time with Oliver?" Lily questioned putting her clothes away.

"Yeah," Alyce said also unpacking her own trunk.

A few more awkward moments of silence passed before Lily said, "That bad huh?"

"Awful," Alyce said solemnly.

Lily nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry, if its any consolation mine wasn't much better."

"Oh, that's right you went back to see your grandmother, how is she doing?" Alyce asked.

"She has no idea who I am, thinks I'm married to my brother, and keeps scolding me on not being a better wife. Also she asked when I was due... Am I looking fatter to you?" Lily asked checking herself self-consciously in the mirror.

"You look fine!" Alyce almost shouted. She spent way too much time trying to get Lily to eat healthy to have it ruined by a senile woman. "You just look healthier, and she's senile, she thinks your married to your brother for fuck's sake."

"This is true," Lily said laughing slightly even though the situation was far from humorous. She was laughing at the pathetic nature of the situation.

"Anyway," Lily said getting off the subject of her grandmother's health, "You ready for classes to start back up?"

"Nope," Alyce said flopping on her bed.

"Me either," Lily said flopping on her own bed.

The month of January dragged on. Postings for apparition tests were on the bulletin board in the common room. Alyce and Lily joined Harry and Ron in the common room just as the commotion started.

"Hmm well I can apparate as soon as I pass the test," Alyce said smugly to Ron who was upset about having to wait until March to be able to apparate.

Ron stuck his tongue out at Alyce and Alyce turned to Lily, "You turn 17 the end of April?"

"The twenty-sixth," Lily said smiling. "And you are already seventeen, I remember celebrating your birthday in December, the third if I'm not mistaken."

Alyce nodded and they looked at the board once more before Harry announced that they were going to be late for Charms.

The rest of the day passed quickly and easily. Harry went to his usual meeting with Dumbledore. Alyce and Lily sat in the girl's dormitory gossiping with the other girl's about guys. Lavender was the most obnoxious, constantly talking about making out with Ron. Finally, after a half an hour of it Alyce snapped.

"We get it Lavender, but seriously, he's our best friend and its fucking weird to think about how it would be to snog him so please spare us the details."

Lavender glared at Alyce and the room got quiet. Lavender retorted with, "Well not all of us want to think about you screwing every damn guy in this place so why don't you just shut your damn mouth all together."

There was an audible gasp from Lily who was sitting beside Alyce. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to hold Alyce back from wailing on Lavender. She quietly said no, but Alyce flew up from Lily's bed where she had been sitting and grabbed Lavender by the hair.

"Get off of me you crazy whore," Lavender shouted.

"Oh shit, she's really done it now," Lily thought knowing she would have to intervene soon.

"Oh no she didn't," Ginny said watching Alyce punch Lavender in the face hard.

There was a gasp as Lavender's nose started to bleed. Lavender rushed down to the common room and Lily just looked at Alyce in shock. "I can't believe that just happened," she said breaking the silence.

Alyce couldn't help but laugh. She was bent over convulsing in laughter. Lily started to snicker as well and Ginny joined in. Soon many of the girls in the dormitory were laughing as well if they were not friend's of Lavender's. Those who were friends of Lavender's rushed down to the common room to make sure her nose wasn't broken. Soon many of the other girl's cleared out leaving just Ginny, Alyce, and Lily.

"So now that we've gotten rid of some pests let's return to the topic at hand?" Alyce said smirking as she sat down next to Lily once again.

"Professors," Ginny said.

"Oh that's right, unfortunately we don't have too many sexy one's left. I know there are many a things I would have like to have done to Lockhart despite that fact that he was a tool."

"Mmmm I second that motion," Ginny said giggling.

Both girls looked over at Lily who shook her head. "I never saw the charm really."

"Yeah you never had a thing for gorgeous blonde's," Alyce laughed. "You would be the weird person who would find Professor Snape attractive.

Lily's stomach feel to her knees. She laughed along with the girls who both shook their heads and she thought, "Out of all the Professor's to joke about."

"No one would find that attractive," Ginny said. "Running your hands through his hair would be like sticking your hands a vat of grease."

Alyce continued to laugh. The conversation quickly switched off that topic, but the churning in Lily's stomach did not cease. "I feel like I'm going to be sick," she said getting up from the bed and running to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she barfed.

Alyce walked in after her. "I didn't realize the idea of being with Snape repulsed you so much, though who could blame you," Alyce said standing outside of the bathroom stall as Lily continued to throw up.

"I feel awful," Lily said. "I think I must have gotten that bug that's been going around."

"Well don't give it to me!" Alyce said standing back from the stall.

"No worries, just give it some time to run through I should be fine a couple days." Lily said.

Lily and Alyce walked into the common room and were confronted by Ron.

"Did you punch my girlfriend in the nose Alyce?" Ron demanded his face now as red as his hair.

"Sure did," Alyce said smirking.

"Why the hell would you do something like that, I thought we were friends?" Ron said.

"Yeah well your bitchy little girlfriend needs to stop calling you friend's whores and maybe she wouldn't get punched in the face." Alyce said to Ron who was only getting angrier by the second.

Ron stood there flabbergasted. There was a silent tension until Harry walked into the room after his meeting with Dumbledore.

"I have a lot to tell you, so whatever you were arguing about will have to wait," Harry said.

The three listened intently as Harry told them in private about what he had learned from Dumbledore.

"He was a kid...," Ron said flabbergasted. "Just like us..."Ron said.

"Very astute Ron," Alyce said sarcastically.

Ron's ears got red and he glared at Alyce about to give her an earful when Lily finally spoke. "He wasn't like us, he didn't have any friends, he was a lonely child."

"What, like that gives him excuse to kill everyone who gets in his way?" Harry shot at Lily.

Lily threw her hands up defensively. "I'm... just saying you know... anyway did you learn anything more other than that Tom Riddle was a very disturbing child who obviously asks questions he shouldn't?"

"Yes, it was... bizzare. Dumbledore gave me the task of trying to get the truth out of Slughorn," Harry said flustered.

"That shouldnt' be terrible, I mean you are his favorite," Ron said.

Lily and Alyce both nodded, but looked a bit less convinced than Ron. "It was a bit of a... personal memory, he wouldn't even share it with Dumbledore. You can ask, but you might have to find a way to get closer to him or gain his confidence in some way before he'll give you the full unedited version," Lily said.

"Nothing to do but ask then," Harry said sighing. Ron patted him on the shoulder and he cringed thinking of how he would have to approach Slughorn the next day.

Harry tried unsucessfully to get the memory from Slughorn for several days, reporting to Ron, Alyce, and Lily every time he had a failure.

"He's avoiding me now, it would normally be a great thing, but when I actually need something from the bloke he just disappears out of sight like a coward," Harry said frustrated.

"He's done something he's ashamed of," Alyce said. "Also, of course he's a coward, you told us you found him disguised as a lumpy old armchair when Dumbledore took you to find him."

"True," Harry said sighing.

Apparation tests started in February. Sixth years anxiously lined up to begin testing. Ron and Lavender came down together and Lily, Alyce, and Harry came down a small group to wait to hear instructions. Harry marched over to see what Malfoy was arguing with Crabbe and Goyle about. Lily cringed and looked at Alyce's face which was pale as she tried to keep a collective uncaring expression on her face.

The many attempts at apparation were sad to say the least. All four left the Great Hall not feeling that they had accomplished much at all.

Valentines day had come and gone and Lily and Alyce had spent it alone.

"I"m worried about you," Alyce said consulting Lily who was lying in bed after her studies looking paler than usual.

"I just don't feel right at all," Lily said. "I feel sick all the time."

"You should really go and see Madam Pomphrey," Alyce said. "You need to get this taken care of."

"I will go and see her if it doesn't clear up in a few days," Lily replied.

"You need to go and see her now," Alyce said attempting to drag her out of bed. "This has been going on for a month and you are started to look really drained."

Alyce and Lily walked down to see Madam Pomphrey in the hospital wing. Upon seeing Lily Madam Pomphrey said, "What's wrong?"

"I haven't been feeling my best. I have been throwing up for almost a month now."

Madam Pomphrey scratched her chin and asked, "What set it off?"

"I don't know, it just came on suddenly one day and its been pretty intense ever since," Lily said.

"Hmm," Madam Pomphrey said. "Have you had any other symptoms?"

"Unrelenting heartburn," Lily said. "Umm... I've been a bit constipated..." Lily said blushing.

"Have you had any added stress in your life?" Madam Pomphrey asked.

"Well, yes, with all the tests and family problems I have been feeling a lot of stress," Lily said.

"Try to relax and not worry so much, I'll give a potion to help you relax, I've seen this in students before around this time of year," Madam Pomphrey said smiling.

As Lily and Alyce were walking back from the hospital wing Lily punched Alyce in the arm lightly.

"See, I told you it was nothing to worry about, just stress," Lily said. "She just looked at me like I was stupid for coming in and that I obviously have no emotional hold on myself."

"Well with everything that's been going on with being worried about Voldemort, trying to keep up in classes, and your family it's a wonder this hasn't happened sooner."

"Well, thanks for your concern, but I think I'll be ok without this potion. I just need to take some time, maybe meditate and relax," Lily said as they entered the girl's dormitory. Lily set the potion inside of her trunk to be kept away.

"Whatever you say Lily," Alyce said shrugging. "If things don't start getting better, you better believe I will force that potion down your throat if I have to."

"And you said I was motherly," Lily said laughing feeling a bit better after lying back down in bed.


	15. Much Like Falling

_**Chapter 15: Much Like Falling**_

February continued on. Alyce walked into the bathroom to hear Lily once again barfing.

"Seriously?" Alyce said pounding on the door. "Have you taken that potion at all?"

"No," Lily said.

"Damnit Lily," Alyce said. "Why not?"

"Because," Lily said walking out of the stall. "I think I know what's wrong."

"Oh really, then why haven't you fixed the problem?" Alyce asked.

Lily looked around to make sure no one was around who could hear. "Alyce... I think I'm pregnant," Lily said.

"What!" Alyce said in a shocked whisper.

Lily lifted the shirt of her uniform. There was a tiny rounded bump underneath it.

"Holy shit Lily," Alyce said unable to believe what was happening. "Didn't you even try to use that condom I gave you?"

"I got a little... tipsy... I completely forgot I had it," Lily said shamefully.

"Fuck Lily, what are you going to do?" Alyce said.

"I don't know," Lily said honestly. "I didn't know what was going on until my stomach started to fill out."

"Who the fuck is the father?" Alyce asked obvious unable to really process what was going on.

"I..." Lily said.

"Damnit Lily this is his problem too, you need to confront the bastard about this," Alyce said.

"No," Lily said calmly.

"What the fuck Lily?" Alyce said now furious. "Why not?"

"He's... older than I am," Lily said.

Alyce froze. "How much older Lily?"

"Twenty years," Lily said cringing.

"Did he break it off because he's married?" Alyce asked seriously.

"NO," Lily said defensively. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm that much of a ho."

"What are you going to tell everyone, I think eventually they are all going to notice," Alyce said. "You aren't exactly big enough to hide the pregnancy for the full term. I know in a month or two everyone is going to find out."

"I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it," Lily said. "For now, I"m not going to tell anyone about it until I know what I'm going to do."

"You know, there are ways to take care of the pregnancy..." Alyce began.

Lily shook her head. "Even if I found that to be a possibility, which I don't, no one will do it now, I'm past 20 weeks I believe."

"Shit," Alyce muttered to herself. "I never thought it would be you in this position. I figured I would be the one approaching you because I got pregnant because my protection failed."

Lily nodded. Alyce sighed. "What are you going to do about school next year?"

Lily shrugged.

"If you got the father to help out maybe you could keep going to school, you really need to at least confront him about it," Alyce said.

Lily shook her head.

"I know you don't want to confront this guy, but damnit Lily even if he's an asshole you still need to tell him. He needs to help out with this child either by helping you take care of it or by paying child support."

"I don't want his money," Lily said.

"You need it!" Alyce said. "You are broke, take care of your grandmother and go to school. Seriously Lily, can you at least give me his name so I can beat his ass."

"No," Lily said.

Alyce threw her hands up in the air. "I'm sorry Alyce, I may confront him about it, but it will be on my terms, not yours, not anyone else's."

"So you won't even tell me his name?" Alyce asked.

"No," Lily said.

"Can you tell me one thing, and you have to promise to tell me the truth," Alyce said.

"Will you stop badgering me if I tell you?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Alyce said rolling her eyes.

"Fine," Lily said.

"Do I know him?" Alyce asked.

Lily bit her lip. "Yes," she said leaving Alyce standing in the bathroom.

Severus Snape toyed with the earrings at his desk. He let the light catch them and remembered how they sparkled as they dangled from her ears. He shook his head. He should have dumped the things when he had a chance, but now he was holding them delicately in his hands. "Stupid woman," Severus said trying to chase away thoughts of her from his mind.

He watched his next class walk in and he quickly slipped the earrings into his desk. He smiled viciously when he saw he would have the Gryffindors to take out his frustration on.

Harry, Ron, Lily, and Alyce crashed in the common room after a particularly bad experience in Potions that day.

"He is getting worse I tell you," Ron said.

"I got out of there quick I'll tell you that much," Alyce said reaching into her bag. "Lily and I were going to look through some pictures, I brought them for us to look at before Potions, but everyone was busy so we can look at them now."

Alyce continued to dig around her bag as the three waited patiently. "I guess I didn't grab them, I could have sworn I did..."

Severus was very close to leaving his office when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He picked up the item that had been left behind by a student. He flipped it open and grinned. He tossed the item in the drawer of his desk. He could imagine the owner of the photo album furiously looking for the thing all night knowing that they had dropped it somewhere.

The girls walked upstairs and felt the tension in the dormitory that they usually encountered. Lavender still held a grudge between the two girls so the room quieted down when the two walked in.

"You think she's pregnant," they heard one of the girl's whisper to Lavender.

Lily went pale white and Alyce shook her head, "She's talking about me Lils not you," she said glaring at the group of girls.

Lily laid down in her bed and sighed. She knew that she couldn't hide this much longer, but she had no idea what to do. She had thought about adoption when she first noticed that she was being to get a curvature after about half a month of puking. She knew she wasn't fit to raise a child herself, she had too many other people to take care of at home who depended on her. She wouldn't be able to finish her education, she had given up on that early on. It was a shame, she had worked so hard for one stupid night of pleasure with a man who had no feelings for her to ruin it. At first she felt a lot of bitterness toward the growing fetus, but eventually she made peace with it. For one stupid moment she even thought that he would want her if she showed up pregnant with his child, but that thought passed as quickly as it had come on. There was no way she could tell him that she was pregnant with his child. First off he was her professor and he would certainly lose his job. The second was that she knew he would reject her and the baby and if she let it get out that he was the father, even to him, she knew how things got around in Hogwarts. Everyone would know by the end of the week and she would be ostracized more than she was already going to be for being pregnant. She would keep her secret as long as possible and she wouldn't show up next year. She was sure the questions would rise up, but with the way things were she would be yesterdays news a few weeks after classes started next year. She touched her belly wondering what her baby was going to look like. "Will it look like him?" she wondered rubbing her stomach. She laughed thinking of her baby with his hooked nose. "No, let's hope it doesn't look that much like him." she thought to herself.

Alyce sighed and laid down on her own bed. Her heart pined for him, but her mind couldn't erase the hurt he had inflicted on her. Draco was no longer hers, and by the looks of him he didn't belong to anyone but the shadows. He was getting worse, separating from his friends, sneaking around the castle. Alyce knew in her heart something was wrong, but she couldn't place a finger on it. She didn't want to believe that Harry was correct in his assumptions about Draco, but it was becoming harder to ignore what was going on. She looked over at Lily and sighed. They were all changing, Harry and Ron rarely ever interacted with she or Lily and next year Lily was going to be gone after she had the baby and would not even be returning to Hogwarts. That would leave Alyce alone at Hogwarts to finish the last year. Sure she could always socialize with Luna or Ginny, or maybe pick up another boyfriend, but it wasn't the same.

February rolled on and Lily and Alyce were in the common room giving Harry a hard time about his stalker.

"I heard talk that she isn't going to stop until she has you, no matter what the cost," Lily said unable to contain her laughter.

Harry cringed. "I don't understand why she can't take the hint. I'm just not interested."

"Eh, I don't know mate, she could be good for a few rounds, if she weren't totally mental that is."

"You ought to just break it to her, maybe with enough force she will finally get the hint and leave you alone," Lily said.

"Or put laxatives in your pumpkin juice.." Alyce piped in.

"I can't believe the Hogsmeade visit was canceled, and it's so close to my birthday too," Ron pouted looking at the bulletin board.

"After what happened to Katie..." Lily said before her voice trailed off. There was silence in the group before Alyce said, "I'm sure Lavender will be occupying a majority of your time anyway... just try to keep it out of the common room, we don't need you fornicating on the furniture."

Ron cringed. "There will be no fornicating,"

"Oh that's right Ron is a virgin," Alyce said chuckling.

"Yeah, well so is Harry and Lily!" Ron said back. "So really you are the odd one out, Alyce."

Alyce was about to argue that when Lily glared at her. Alyce shrugged her shoulders apologetically and Lily shook her head. Both boys looked at them like they were losing it.

"Its a chick thing," Alyce said before the two walked away.

"Women," Ron said watching them leave.

The first of March bloomed. Lily and Alyce sat in the common room that morning.

"Can't believe you got him a gift," Alyce said staring down at the gift Lily held in her hands.

"He's still our friend Alyce, just because he's being a prick now doesn't mean he's not still our friend…. Our very stupid friend," Lily said looking over at Lavender who was glaring at her holding her own gift.

"Well his gift is me not punching his girlfriend in the nose again, can't believe I didn't break it, lucky bitch," Alyce said.

Lily laughed softly and finally Ron and Harry descended down the stairs. Lavender smirked at Lily and Alyce and approached Ron to give him his gift and maybe a public display of affection. She was quickly shot down, and Lily and Alyce could instantly see that something was wrong. Why was Ron asking for Ramilda Vane? The look on Lavender's face was priceless though as Ron and Harry exited through the portrait hole. She huffed and stomped up to the girl's dormitory to avoid further embarrassment.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Lily asked.

"Who cares, that was HILARIOUS," Alyce said unable to contain her laughter.

"Hmm, well I guess I'll give Ron his gift later then," Lily said shrugging.

Harry came back to the common room an hour later his face shell shocked. "You need to come down to the hospital wing," he said.

"What happened?" Lily asked instantly worried.

"I'll tell you on the way," Harry said.

He explained what had happened as they made their way to the hospital wing. None of Ron's family had made it yet, so Lily, Alyce, and Harry sat by Ron's bedside.

The group discussed who could possibly try to poison Ron. Finally they came to an agreement that someone had once again tried to kill Dumbledore as the mead was meant as a gift to him.

"This person is dangerous, he doesn't care how many people he hurts to get to his goal," Lily said.

"This person is Malfoy!" Harry said. "I keep seeing him disappear off the Marauder's Map!"

"Harry…" Lily said trying to kindly tell him he was being overly paranoid and loud in the hospital wing, but Madame Pomphrey came in and shushed him for her.

"Seriously, both of you think about it. He has been very different lately. He doesn't keep his friends close, and those three have been as tight as us since they've been at Hogwarts. He is doing something he doesn't want anyone to know about. Everyone is afraid of him. Wake up!" Harry shouted again and was once again shushed by Madam Pomphrey.

"You're theory lacks some major details. Like evidence," Alyce whispered angrily.

"Oh, get over it Alyce, obviously you don't want him to be guilty because that would mean you've slept with a murderer," Harry said.

Alyce got up and walked out, "I don't have to deal with this Harry Potter!"

Lily sighed waiting for Madam Pomphrey to kick them out. She did peak around again, but saw that they were sitting quietly and shrugged her shoulders.

"He looks so fragile," Lily thought to herself as she looked down at him.

A couple hours later Ron's family showed up. Lily excused herself to talk to Alyce and let the family spend time with Ron. Harry followed her out, but the two didn't talk the entire walk to the common room.

Lily walked up to the girl's dormitory and Alyce was there sitting on her bed.

"He's a jerk," Lily said sitting down next to her.

"He's right," Alyce said. "One of the reasons I don't want to believe Draco is behind this is because I don't want to believe that I couldn't have seen it, that I could have slept with a monster, a death eater."

Lily nodded. She wouldn't say it, but she understood. All of them believed that Snape was a death eater, and Harry believed that Snape was in on the scheme to kill Dumbledore along with Draco. She unfortunately couldn't push it in a corner now. She would be having a suspected death eater's baby. "Believe it or not I get it," Lily said rubbing Alyce's shoulders.

"Oh really? You slept with a potential killer?" Alyce got a good look at Lily's face. "Oh shit Lily, no wonder you don't want to confront him about this, shit… How dangerous is he?"

Lily shrugged. She honestly didn't know.

The wheels in Alyce's head turned. Suspected death eater, 20 years older than Lily, and she knew him. Only a few people fit that description, one was Lucius Malfoy, who was in Azkaban so no worries there, Crabbe and Goyle's father's which was too disgusting to think about, and… o no…"

"You slept with Snape!" she whispered.

Lily's face went white. "He's a professor, he's a death eater, he makes your life miserable, he has a dark mark for fuck's sake Lily, he's definitely a murderer and you are having his baby!"

"Shhhhh!" Lily said making sure no one was around. "Please Alyce, please keep this between us. It was a stupid mistake."

"Why would you even want to sleep with him?" Alyce asked.

Lily blushed. "Oh, I don't even want to know," Alyce shook her head.

A few moments of silence passed before Alyce said, "If Snape contributed half of the genes, I hate to say it Lily but that is going to be one unattractive kid."

Lily couldn't help but laugh. "You never know?" she said.


	16. Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold

_**Chapter 16: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold**_

Lily and Harry visited Ron almost every day in the hospital wing. Alyce finally broke down and went with Lily one afternoon, when Harry was sure not to be there. "You are going to have to talk to him eventually," Lily said as they walked to the hospital wing. Lily waved at Madam Pomphrey.

"Just like YOU are going to have to talk to Snape about his baby?" Alyce whispered.

Lily shook her head. "For fuck's sake Lily grow a backbone," Alyce said as they sat down by Ron's bedside. "Also, why are we here, he's not even conscious."

"He ought to have someone here when he wakes up," Lily said.

"So we are doing shifts now?" Alyce asked.

"He's still our friend," Lily said trying to defend him.

"Your friend maybe, Harry and Ron haven't really been my friends in months," Alyce said.

Lily shook her head again. "Well, I would suggest making yourself a friend to them again, because next year I won't be here."

Alyce sat quietly mulling over what Lily had just said. She had almost forgotten that this pregnancy meant that Lily would soon have a baby and wouldn't be attending Hogwarts for their seventh year.

"Hrrrm," the sleeping Ron groaned.

The two stared straight at him. "mmmlily," Ron groaned before rolling over.

Lily blushed brightly. "You better not let Lavender hear that, she already hates you," Alyce said laughing.

The two left soon after that visit. Alyce and Lily went their seperate ways, Lily to study in the library and Alyce to find Blaise Zabini. She had a couple trysts with him when she had been feeling exceptionally vulnerable, but it wasn't the same. She had barely enjoyed it the last time they had, she had just followed the movements and allowed herself to have some sexual release. She knew where to find Blaise at this time of the day too; he would be outside by the lake. The weather was beautiful for March, with only a nip of chill in the air and the sun was shining through the clouds. She had a wicked smile on her face as she approached him.

"You have a few minutes?" she asked.

"For you, I have a few hours," he replied with a sly grin on his face.

She kissed him roughly and he slipped his hands up her shirt. She heard someone clearing their throat and she looked up to see Draco Malfoy glaring at the two. Alyce grinned like a Cheshire cat and grasped Blaise's hand. "Let's find someplace more private, I know the perfect place we can go, where we will not be interrupted," Alyce said averting her eyes to Draco and she almost gave him a wink as she was sure he knew of the place she was talking about. It was the same place she and he had gone so many times before.

Lily looked down at her feet as she walked to the library. For some reason she couldn't stop herself from continuing to be studious. She knew it wouldn't matter, she would be leaving in a few months and not coming back, what would those grades and hard work mean when she was taking care of her baby. She bumped into someone on her way to the library and her head shot up to apologize. She blushed brightly when she saw who she had bumped into.

"Professor, I'm sorry." Lily said.

Professor Snape scowled at the girl. The sexual tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. "You would do well to watch where you are going Miss Kacufrakus," Snape said.

Lily nodded and walked vigorously away from him almost breaking into a run. Snape sighed loudly. "Only one more year of this awkwardness," he thought to himself. "If she or I live that long." He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about her at all. A few months ago he had sex with her, had even thought about being with her again, those thoughts popped up in his dreams. He felt like some old pervert thinking about her like that, and as the months passed those feelings had finally simmered down. He was able to fully ignore any urges that may pop up. His mind now wrapped around his more important tasks. He still had Draco to watch over, and Draco had yet again failed to kill Dumbledore and managed to poison a fellow student. Not that he was very worried; it was only Weasley who was poisoned.

Lily shook her head. She felt the baby kicking like mad. She guessed it was probably in response to her heartbeat which was now erratic. She rubbed her stomach soothingly, hoping to calm the baby. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her. She saw no one in the library and she sighed in relief. The baby's kicking slowed after a few minutes as did her heartbeat. She smiled, thinking of the baby growing bigger and stronger with each passing week.

Lavender Brown watched Lily rubbing her stomach. She gasped realizing that Lily had begun to gain weight, especially around the middle. When she had noticed it before, she had assumed it was because Lily was eating more and she felt glee because she felt she was wiping out the competition, but now seeing it closer, she realized what must have happened. She contemplated how to use this gem against Lily. She decided to save it, for a time she knew it would be useful.

It wasn't long before Ron was out of the hospital wing. Things returned to as normal as they could. Harry was continuing to have trouble getting Slughorn to stick around long enough to discuss the memory that he needed to get so desperately, but he was also having trouble even keeping his mind on it. He was also busy keeping tabs on Draco.

"You need to focus," Lily said from the couch she was sitting on in the common room.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked away from her, "I've tried everything Lily."

Ron came into the room looking around. "You haven't seen Lavender have you?" Ron asked.

Lily shook her head and Ron wiped his forehead. "You should really just let her go, rather than stringing her along like this," Lily said glaring at him.

Ron glared back, "Maybe I don't want to break up with her."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Lily retorted.

"Would you two shut up!" Alyce shouted from across the room. "I am tired of all the bickering that goes on between you two. Seriously, just make out and get it over with."

Lily coughed loudly obviously choking on her own saliva and Ron just turned a pale color while his ears turned pink. Harry tried hard to suppress a laugh. As awkward as it was for him to admit he knew that Ron had a thing for Lily, he had let it slip at Christmas that he was at least interested in her a little.

A girl walked into the room and handed Harry a piece of parchment. Harry read it and passed it around the group.

"Oh is that the giant spider that Ron had nightmares about?" Alyce asked grinning as she passed the parchment back to Harry.

Ron's ears turned pink once again. "If you had been there you would understand."

"He can't honestly want us to go. There is no way with the added security that any of us will be able to get out, and we aren't as small as we used to be to fit under that cloak. I am guessing only two of us could really fit," Lily said. "Anyway as we were discussing earlier Harry needs to be focusing on getting that memory from Slughorn."

"Oh would you get off of that already? What makes you think I will be any luckier the fiftieth time I try?"

"Luckier!" Ron shouted. The three looked at him as if he had completely lost his marbles. "The luck potion."

"Ah, I had forgotten you had that," Lily said. "Well that is a valid point; you might do better with it."

"Well I was actually planning on using it for something else…" Harry began.

"What could be more important than this?" Alyce asked.

"I guess you're right," Harry said. "I will try once more today and if he doesn't crack then I will use the potion this evening. He is teaching and advance potion making class, so I manage to stay away from Snape most of the time."

"Yeah, well if you weren't cheating you'd be stuck with Snape like the rest of us," Alyce pointed out.

Harry threw up his hands defensively, "Hasn't Snape tortured me enough? I'm literally his favorite student to pick on, other than maybe Neville."

Alyce shook her head but said nothing more about the matter. Alyce looked at the clock and said, "Ron and I need to go and take our apparition tests."

"Ah that's right you both turned seventeen already," Lily said somewhat put out that she had missed the deadline by only a couple weeks. "Well good luck to you both."

Alyce waved and Ron looked as if he were going to be ill as they both exited the portrait hole. Several hours later they would all return to the common room. Harry had no succeeded in getting the memory from Slughorn, Lily had succeeded in avoiding Snape, and Ron and Alyce were returning from their test.

Lily was helping Harry with an essay in the boys dormitory when Alyce walked in. "I passed!" Alyce said glee covering her face for the first time in a few months.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked, not seeing Ron come in yet.

"He… he failed," Alyce said. She had felt bad for him despite all the bickering and fighting that had been going on.

Ron came in the room looking glum. "I missed it by half an eyebrow, like that even matters!"

"I agree," Lily said patting him on the shoulder. "That does seem really harsh."

"We'll take it together in the summer," Harry said reassuringly.

"I take it you didn't get the memory from Slughorn?" Alyce asked seeing that Harry was holding the Felix Felicis potion.

"What gave it away?" Harry turned around somewhat annoyed. "The fact that after a million tries one more wasn't going to make a difference?"

Alyce shrugged defensively. "I was just asking a question."

"Would you all stop bickering!" Lily said getting a bit moody herself. The three of them stared at her in shock and awe. Sure she got bitchy every once in a while, but it was not usually this unprovoked. "Sorry…" she said lowering her eyes.

Harry drank down the potion. The three watched him expectantly.

"Well, I'm off to Hagrid's," Harry said looking for his invisibility cloak.

"Are you mental?" Ron asked. "You are going to bury that giant spider?"

"I have a good feeling about Hagrid's tonight, you know?" Harry asked throwing the invisibility cloak over himself.

"No?" The three answered simultaneously.

"Well, I'm going now," Harry said.

Alyce shook her head. She watched Ron and Lily go after him, probably to try and either talk him out of it or figure out what exactly was going on. She just laughed. Things always had a way of working out, even when they seemed unlikely to succeed. That's just the way it had always been with Harry, Ron Lily, and herself. They just worked.

"What are you doing up there with HER?" Lavender questioned seeing only Ron and Lily walking together from the boy's dormitory and not Harry as he was under the invisibility cloak.

Ron stepped far away from Lily and Lily kept her head down and walked away from him toward the girl's dormitory. Harry snickered as he walked out of the portrait hole nudging Ginny on his way out, who gave Dean an ass chewing as she assumed Dean had nudged her.

Lily walked into the girl's dormitory and she heard Lavender wailing at Ron. She sighed. She hadn't meant to cause them to fight, but she couldn't help feeling a little glad that Lavender was upset. She shook her head, "I'm getting worse, hoping people are as miserable as me, it's a good thing I'll be leaving in a couple of months," she thought to herself.

"What was all that racket about?" Alyce asked walking into the girl's dormitory shortly afterward.

"Lavender saw Ron and I coming out of the boy's dormitory," Lily explained.

"Ah, well I hope you're ready for the wrath you are going to face when she decides to come in," Alyce said chuckling.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"You came out of the boy's dormitory, alone with Ron, or at least I'm assuming that's how it appeared. I only just came out, after hearing all that screaming. I didn't want to be part of that drama too. But anyway, you stepping out of the dormitory with him, makes you look… exceptionally slutty. I myself wouldn't be ashamed of such a title, but I know you would and Lavender won't hesitate to spread that around. Lily, they are going to assume…" Alyce said.

"What?" Lily asked with one eyebrow rasied. "They are going to assume what?"

"Well… you know…" Alyce said trying to be nice about it.

"That I slept with Ron!" Lily whispered outraged.

"Well, that's how it will appear Lily," Alyce said.

"I would never do that, especially not while he was in a relationship with Lavender. No one would believe that…. would they?" Lily asked.

"You are friends with the school's biggest slut, I doubt they would be surprised by anything you would do," Alyce said.

"You aren't a slut; don't talk about yourself like that!" Lily said getting teary eyed.

"Lily, what's up seriously?" Alyce asked.

"It's just the hormones," Lily said. "I feel like I'm losing my damn mind sometimes."

"Ah it must be getting worse, you almost never curse. Not that I can say I don't approve, because it's actually very badass, at least for you. No more miss nice Lily." Alyce said laughing.

"I don't think you're a slut Alyce," Lily said getting back on topic.

"I know you are trying to be nice, but I am a slut. I'm ok with it, what I'm not ok with is this little bitch spreading lies about you and people probably believing them," Alyce said.

"I will be ok," Lily said. "Lavender will chew him out and he will avoid me, and it's for the best."

"As much as I dislike Ron, you and he would be good together, you obviously have a little thing for him, I saw that blush on your face in the hospital wing," Alyce said. "When he mumbled your name."

"Even if I did, which I don't, I am pregnant… with Snape's baby no less. He and I could never be together. Granted I don't think he should be with Lavender either, because they are very wrong for one another, but I would rather him be with her than be interested in me. This makes it much less complicated when I disappear."

Alyce wanted to shake Lily so badly. Lily was punishing herself by not allowing herself happiness, but Alyce could see her point. Ron would be one of the last people who would accept her knowing whose child she was carrying.

Ron shook his head. Lavender had given him an earful but one thing stuck in his mind the most. She had accused him of having sex, with Lily. Granted he had had a couple of fantasies, but nothing that explicit. Where would she even get an idea like that? Lily was a virgin, and an all around goody-two shoes. She wouldn't sleep with him, especially not when he was in a relationship. Lavender was so blinded by hatred and jealousy, and he was honestly glad that she had broken it off. It would be easier than him having to do it himself. He shook his head. He really had no balls at all sometimes.

Lavender fumed. Well she knew now that Lily had probably slept with Ron, and Ron was probably the father of that bastard baby she was pregnant with. No wonder he hadn't been affectionate as of late, he had gotten the slut pregnant. She should have seen it, she should have known. She wondered how many other people knew before she did. She felt like an idiot her own boyfriend cheated on her and knocked up his supposed friend. Well she would be sure that this got out. That slut would pay for what she did.


	17. Loose Lips Sink Ships

**Chapter 17: Loose Lips Sink Ships**

Lily felt white hot eyes watching her the next day from her fellow Gryffindor girls. She kept her eyes averted from most, trying to ignore the whispering. She knew that Lavender must have spread a nasty rumor. She walked quicker trying to get away from the people and their judging eyes. She knew she was innocent, but that didn't mean she liked hearing what they were saying about her.

Lily bumped into someone again and quickly looked up to see who it was. It was Luna Lovegood who said, "Good morning Lily, how are you?"

"Not so good Luna," Lily said honestly. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors already."

"Yes, I heard them, not sure how true they are. You can't always believe everything you hear. For instance, the minister of magic is not only a wizard as most people believe, but he is a vampire. Did you know that?"

Lily tried hard not to laugh. "No, I had no idea." Lily said smiling. At least Luna knew how to make her feel better.

"Well anyway, I better get to class, it was nice to see you again Lily," Luna said as she skipped away.

Lily sat down in her Charms class trying to ignore the looks. Alyce came and sat next to her and the whispers got more frenzied. "Two sluts sitting next to each other in charms," Alyce said to Lily laughing. "They aren't a very imaginative bunch are they?"

Lily nodded. "Don't let them get to you Lily; most intelligent people know that you and Ron have nothing going on."

Harry and Ron sat next to Lily and Alyce. "Lavender and I split last night," Ron said.

"You mean she split up with you, you coward," Alyce said laughing.

"I don't care as long as it's over," Ron said.

"What made her break up with you?" Harry asked.

"Well she saw Lily and I walking out of the boy's dormitory and couldn't see you because you had the invisibility cloak on. She just assumed I guess. She yelled an awful lot."

"I know I heard it for almost an hour," Alyce said chuckling.

Lily was relieved obviously no one but she had Alyce and some of Lavender's friends had heard the rumors. She had hoped they would just stop there, but if Luna already knew it was only a matter of time before the whole student body knew. Who would honestly believe that she and Ron were together, especially together while he was Lavender? Did these people really know nothing about her? "You did have sex with Snape and not even your best friend could figure that one out until you gave her too many hints," her mind said. "How well do you even know yourself, and you expect these people to know a thing about you," her mind said again. Lily shook these thoughts out of her mind.

Harry told them about the Horcruxes during class making sure the mufflaito charm was on.

"Why haven't we ever heard of them before?" Ron asked.

"Look at how little information Tom Riddle was given before talking to Slughorn and all the damage he did with it. I'm not surprised there isn't any talk about it and I know for sure there is nothing on the shelves about it," Lily said.

"Lily the bookworm, you would know something like that," Ron said back to her.

Lily shook her head ignoring his statement. Alyce continued on with the conversation at hand, "When did Dumbledore say you were going to go and look for this Horcrux?"

"He didn't... he just said he would find me when he found one and that we would be going out to destroy it," Harry said.

"So that could be tomorrow, or a year from now... Did he give any hints, or say that he had any leads?" Alyce asked.

"No, he didn't Alyce, if he had I would have shared it," Harry snapped at her.

"Fuck Harry no need to pull that crap on me, damn," Alyce said looking up to see that Filch was beginning the return demonstrations on a charm that none of them had been paying attention to.

Severus Snape sneered as he headed to what could be considered a teacher's lounge. He sat down with a newspaper during his down time between this class and his next. He wanted to avoid his house as they were pestering him as of late with petty problems. He needed solitude, and unfortunately that wouldn't be found here either. He heard Professor McGonagal talking in a low voice to Professor Flitwick.

"Are you sure Filius?" Professor McGonnagal asked.

"That's what I was told Minerva, a student in your house is pregnant," Filius responded.

Severus rolled his eyes. He knew eventually one of the hormone filled teenagers would get another one pregnant.

"Who is it?" Minerva asked her voice hushed and worried. "Let me take a guess," Minerva said. "Is it Alyce Fyre."

"No, but you were close. It's Lily Kacufrakus, Minerva," Filius responded.

Severus nearly choked in the corner. "There is no way this can be connected, you had sex with her once, and there is no way that the one time you have an indiscretion with a student that she would get pregnant. She must be sleeping with Potter or the Weasley boy.

"That must just be a rumor Filius, Lily is a good student," Minerva said.

"Minerva, you need to talk to her. She won't be able to attend Hogwarts much longer if the rumors are true. I just wanted to let you know before someone else found out and tried to approach her about it," Filius said.

"Was there talk of who fathered this child?" Minerva asked.

"Yes," Filius said.

"Well?" Minerva asked as the silence dragged on.

"Ronald Weasley," Filius said.

"Thank you Filius, I will confront Miss Kacufrakus about it as soon as I can," Minerva said as she exited the teacher's lounge.

Severus breathed a sigh of relief; the child must be Weasley's. He couldn't believe he had even begun to be worried that he had fathered a child with the girl. He folded his paper and walked to his advanced potions class sneering at some students along the way for sport.

Minerva McGonagall caught sight of Lily coming back to the common room after dinner. She sighed heavily and motioned for the girl to come into her office.

Lily swallowed as she followed Professor McGonagall. She had an idea about what this was about, Lavender's rumor must have gotten out of hand, and now she was going to get a sex education lectures the head of her house. This was going to prove to be quite an embarrassing experience.

"Have a seat Miss Kacufrakus," Professor McGonagall said pointing to a chair.

Lily sat politely and waited for McGonagall to drop the bomb on her. It was quiet for several moments. "How have you been Lily, any problems with classes?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"No, things are fine," Lily said obviously uncomfortable.

"Is anyone giving you any trouble, any other fellow students?" Minerva asked hoping to find out that this rumor was started by a jealous girl and that Lily was not indeed pregnant.

"No, I don't think so," Lily said wishing Professor McGonagall would just get to it.

"Well I had heard, through the grapevine, that you are pregnant," Professor McGonagall said awkwardly but straightforward. What was the point of continuing to beat around the bush, the girl was already as white as Professor Binns.

The color from Lily's face drained quickly. She had thought the rumor was just that she had slept with Ron, but now there was a rumor that she was pregnant. Who could have found out that she was pregnant, or was that just another one of Lavender's nasty lies? Lily wasn't sure how to respond to that. She knew soon everyone would know anyway, but she didn't want to answer the questions connected to being pregnant, like who had gotten her pregnant. She just stayed quiet.

"Lily, are you pregnant?" Professor McGonagall asked again more sternly this time. She began to feel worried as the teenage girl across from her wrung her hands together as if trying to come up with the words she wanted to say.

Lily's voice shook as she spoke. She didn't want to lie to Professor McGonagall especially when it would be so obvious in a month or so that she was pregnant. She was barely doing a good enough job of hiding it now.

"Yes," Lily said quietly.

"Oh," Minerva McGonagall said obviously both confused and shocked. She had expected… well she had expected a pregnant teenager and had been handed one.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Lily asked quietly.

"Well, Lily, what are your plans after this summer, when is the baby due?" Minerva asked obviously flabbergasted.

"I won't be returning to Hogwarts next year, and the baby is due in August," Lily said.

"How, how did this happen?" Minerva asked finally finding her words.

"Ummm," Lily said not sure how to answer that question. The obvious answer was sex, but she didn't want to seem like a smart ass.

"Why do you believe that you won't be able to return to Hogwarts, Lily?" Minerva asked calmly. "I believe the Weasley's would be willing to help care for their grandchild while you finished your education."

Lily choked on her saliva. "It's not Ron's baby," she said keeping her eyes down in shame.

"Well, was it another student?" Minerva asked more concerned.

"No," Lily said truthfully.

"Lily you should seek care for your baby's sake," Minerva said as Lily got up to leave after several moments of awkward silence.

"I'll go to see Madame Pomphrey," Lily said on her way out.

"So what was up with Prof Mc-G?" Alyce asked. Lily couldn't help but snicker at the nickname.

"The cat is out of the bag Alyce, the rumor is that Ron knocked me up," Lily said.

"Are you kidding me? That's why everyone has been watching you two," Alyce said.

"There were people watching us?" Lily asked horrified.

"It's best not to pay attention to it," Alyce said. "You will just end up getting upset of something you can't change."

"Do you think the rumors have gotten back to Ron yet?" Lily asked nervously. Her question was quickly answered as a furious Ron walked out of the boy's dormitory. He walked up to Lavender and said, "How could you start such a horrible rumor. I have never had sex with Lily; I have never even been on a date with her let alone get her pregnant. Do you have any idea how much your hurtful lies have gotten me in trouble. I wish I had never met you!"

Ron walked angrily away from Lavender who burst into tears. Ron walked to be over with Lily, Harry, and Alyce. "I can't believe some of the things people will believe."

Alyce and Lily nodded. "I'm sorry Lily. This was supposed to be between Lavender and me."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "How many people do you suppose have heard the rumor?" Ron asked wearily.

"At least half the school," Alyce said.

"Blimey," Ron said sitting down in one of the chairs in the common room. In one day I go from being a virgin to shagging Lily."

"And Lily went from virgin to prego, you're point Ron? Lavender destroyed both of your reputations. Best just to let this rumor blow over."

"Did I mention I was sorry about that?" Ron asked Lily looking guilty.

Severus Snape finally finished grading all of the scrolls that had piled up and found he had some free time. This was very unusual, but it had been easier to grade all the dunderhead's essays as they were god awful. He marked most as poor, or even dreadful. Only a handful were acceptable, and there were even fewer exceeds expectations with only one or two outstandings. He cringed upon seeing who had received one of the outstandings. That damn girl, if he had known he was grading her scroll he would have graded it more critically. He knew this was unfair, of course, but he also knew how close he came to being discovered as to his sleeping with a student. He didn't even want there to be any idea that he might be giving her special treatment.

He opened the door to his desk in his classroom and picked up something that had opened in the bottom of the drawer.

He stared blankly at the photo album that had opened in his desk. As if he needed another reminder. It was a photograph, of four teenagers, Potter, Weasley, Fyre, and Kacufrakus. He watched the photo move and watched Lily's hair catch the rays of the setting sun. He watched her eyes shimmer and then shook his head. This was wrong. He began to close the photo album to place it back in the drawn when something else caught his eyes. There was something shining in the picture just catching the rays more brilliantly than her hair hand. He took a closer look and saw that the setting sun that had been the background of the picture was reflecting off of a piece of jewelry, just slightly. The jewelry looked familiar, too familiar. He continued looking through that drawer and found the earrings that Rachel had left behind.

"No," Severus said to himself. "No, no, no,no NO!" he shouted in anguish.

The earrings that he held in his hands were the earrings that were in Lily's ears in the picture.

After the initial shock wore off he began to wonder how she had done it, and how long she had planned it. He had slept with her twice then, what was the girl's obsession with him? He knew she was inexperienced, but to go through all the trouble of hiding her identity just to sleep with him again. He wasn't exactly the pick of the litter.

He walked to the teacher's lounge completely in shock. He sat in the same spot and Filius and Minerva were once again chatting, in very hushed voices. Severus perked his ears discreetly.

"Were they true?" Filius asked.

"Yes, she wouldn't tell me much, just that it is neither Ron's nor another student's baby. This hasn't happened at Hogwarts in years. The last time was when I was a student, and it was never spoken of. The girl never came back and she was written out of most conversations. It was too scandalous to even think about. Now we've got another young girl who is going to drop out, but this sort of thing is more socially acceptable now. She is an incredibly bright student Filius, one of the best in her class easily, it's a shame that something like this will ruin her chances of a future," Minerva said.

"Well Minerva, we do the best we can, this happens so rarely its hard to prepare for it. How much longer will she be with us?"

"Until terms end and then no longer," Minerva said.

Severus stopped listening to the chatter after that. "Oh Merlin's beard," he thought to himself. "Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" his mind almost seemed to scream. He had to get out of there, back to his own room. He had impregnated his student. There was no chance that it was with another student. How long would it be before everyone knew?

"She seduced me," he thought to himself as he walked into his own room. "She hid her identity the second time and the first time it was an unfortunate potions accident. Perhaps she wanted this to happen, she certainly didn't try to prevent it. Is getting me fired worth becoming pregnant with my child? What sort of game is she playing?" he wondered.

"Maybe it's not her at all," he mind thought bitterly. "Crooked old matchmaker," he thought to himself as he pictured Dumbledore requesting such a thing from Lily. That couldn't be it. The man might seem off his rocker sometimes, but to have a student give up everything to have his child, was absurd. "Harry Potter has certainly given up his childhood for a lot worse," he thought bitterly. He had harbored poor feelings toward the boy, but he felt more pity than anything. Pity that Potter never stood a chance, that he would end up dying no matter what in order to achieve killing Voldemort.

Alyce grinned like a tiger as she stalked her prey. She had gotten bored with Blaise and he seemed to have no affect on Draco anymore. She began to wonder what the point of trying to make him jealous was. She never put this much effort out for a guy ever, and he ignored her every advance. It was absolutely infuriating. She watched Draco's movements almost more obsessively than Harry did.

"It should probably worry me that Harry watches my ex boyfriend more than I do," Alyce thought to herself laughing. "Perhaps that's why Draco broke up with me, he had a thing with Harry," she thought barely able to contain an outburst of laughter.


	18. Uncharted

**Chapter 18: Uncharted**

Ron couldn't help but remember what Lavender had yelled at him when he had confronted her about the rumor she started. "Well, if you didn't knock her up, who did? That baby bump didn't just appear from nowhere," Lavender had said.

He hadn't really thought about Lily looking differently, but now, now he could see it in his mind's eye. She had gained some weight, around the middle. He and Harry had said nothing about it, as it would be a very stupid and insensitive thing to do to bring up a girl's weight.

"Harry," Ron said finally deciding to bring up his conclusion with someone else.

"Yeah?" Harry asked reading ahead in the potions book.

"Lily is pregnant," he said.

Harry looked up at him shocked for a moment. "I thought you said you hadn't slept with her?" he asked confused.

"Oh! No! It's not me, but you can see it mate. She's… bigger around the middle," Ron said.

Harry thought for a moment about his friend. He supposed he hadn't been paying her much attention lately, so he had missed what Ron was saying. "Are you sure you aren't just imagining things Ron, perhaps Lily is just eating more or something," he said rolling over not wanting to discuss this anymore. He knew Ron had a thing for Lily, even if the moron wouldn't admit it to himself.

"No, mate, I really think she's pregnant, just the way she acts, she's, not herself," Ron said sounding concerned.

"Ron, even if she were pregnant, if you didn't do it who could have?" Harry asked hoping that if Ron saw the reason in that he would stop worrying about it.

They both were silent for a moment and Harry sighed in relief thinking that Ron had finally dropped it. Then, out of nowhere, Ron answered with a scowl on his face, "McLaggen."

Harry thought back. She had said she wasn't having a good time with McLaggen at Slughorn's party; actually she had been avoiding him. Why would she let him have sex with her if she didn't like him? "I don't know Ron, she had said she wasn't having a very good time with McLaggen at the party, she actually avoided him most of the night."

"Who else could it be Harry?" Ron asked.

"Ron, I still don't believe she is pregnant, but if you are really so worried about it, ask her yourself and stop asking me about it. Though, I would be careful about asking her unless you're really sure, because she's going to be furious if you ask her and she's not," Harry said rolling over.

Ron rolled over as well thinking about it. He wanted to agree with Harry and believe that she wasn't, but, the more he thought about Lavender's words, the more he himself believed it. "I shouldn't trust a word out of Lavender's mouth; she's the one who started a rumor that I knocked up Lily," he thought to himself. Still, that nagging thought in the back of his mind told him that something was off.

Lily tried not to look Professor McGonagall in the eye during Transfiguration the next morning. She knew the whispers were regarding her that was around the classroom. She got the word from Alyce later that most of the student body was trying to decide if Lavender was just a jealous bitch or if Lily had really gotten knocked up. The groups were split in threes, those who believed that Lavender was full of crap, those who believed that Ron had knocked her up, and those that believed she was pregnant, but by someone other than Ron. Anyone who was not in those groups had either not heard the rumor or didn't care enough to ponder it further upon hearing it.

Lily kept her promise to Professor McGonagall and had kept her appointment with Madam Pomphrey, which she had gotten done after her classes. She was relieved that she hadn't had to face Snape today, she wasn't sure she could be strong enough to keep her emotions off her face regarding him.

"Not a touch of the nerve's at all then," Madam Pomphrey said examining Lily's abdomen. "Well, you'll need to be started on vitamins and you'll have to start eating better, no skipping meals. This is not only for your sake but for the poor baby you plan on bringing into this world."

"Madam Pomphrey, if it's not too much, could you save the lecture, I obviously realize how incredibly dense I was in a moment of passion, and I and the life I bring into this world will have to pay for it. I already know, and I've already heard it again and again in my own head. So please, just tell me how the baby is doing and what exactly I need to be doing to keep him or her healthy so I can try to be a decent mother and so my child won't have to pay for the mistake I've made."

Madam Pomphrey gave the girl a look over. She was hardly a teenager anymore, but she had noticed this in many of her older students. Something was happening, something was changing in the air and everyone was getting ready for something, growing up quickly as if they were going off to war.

Severus Snape marched up to the office of Professor Dumbledore. He couldn't be trusted to approach Lily about this so he would plead his case with Dumbledore first, letting the man know the pure insanity of the situation. He needed this job to keep up the charade for Voldemort, but if news got out that he knocked up a student, someone would find it exceptionally fishy if he were still on the staff at Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore greeted Snape bidding him to come in. "I wasn't expecting to see you for a couple of weeks Severus, is there a new development?"

"Yes, inside of Lily Kacufrakus's womb," he thought to himself. "Yes, I do have a dilemma," he said not sure how to word this delicately.

"Well sit down," Dumbledore said offering him a chair.

"I, had an unfortunate run in with a student," he began as he sat down. "Yes, as if I just stumbled into her and knocked her up," he thought bitterly in his mind.

Dumbledore nodded for him to go on. "I, am not sure how, but I ended up in a sexual encounter with said student," he said.

Dumbledore looked unsurprised. "You seem, cavalier regarding the news I just gave you," Snape said.

"It was Lily wasn't it," Dumbledore said smiling.

"You crooked matchmaker," he said almost yelling. "Why would you want the poor girl to ruin her life over something like this?"

"Having a sexual encounter with you is hardly going to ruin her life Severus," Dumbledore said trying to calm the infuriated man.

"It is if she turns up pregnant carrying my child," he said breathlessly no longer caring if this was delicately worded or not.

"Oh, well that is… quite a development," Dumbledore said now genuinely surprised.

"Answer me this much Dumbledore, and yes you owe me this, why did you try to match us in the first place?" Severus asked calming down a bit knowing that the psychotic man in front of him had not intended for Lily to get pregnant.

"Severus, you need an inside person, you have an edge being inside the school, but imagine, inside Potter's social circle, to be friendly with the one running the operation. Voldemort knows that Potter travels with a group and that one is the brains of the group, one provides the muscle, and the other provides unwavering loyalty. You punctured, excuse my pun, one of the most vital organs of the group. I had never intended in a sexual encounter when I switched those potion ingredients that night you had Lily in for detention. I didn't even expect anything sexual, I just expected you to get closer to her, to at least give the illusion that you had some sort of inside connection. You need her as well, you need to know more about Potter, and you need to work as a team with him through Lily. He is going to need guidance Severus, I am dying more and more every day," Dumbledore said finishing his speech.

"So you are willing to drag another innocent person into this, two actually if that baby manages to survive this war?" Severus asked becoming infuriated once again.

"You have chemistry Severus, it is not as if this wasn't going to happen on its own, I just helped things along, and as for the child she is bearing, I am truly sorry that it had to happen sooner than planned, but you know it would have happened on its own. You cannot share what I have shared with you with Lily. She doesn't need to know that she is a pawn in this too, and she definitely doesn't need to share that information with Harry. He needs to make this decision on his own in the end in order to go against Voldemort," Dumbledore added.

Severus shook angrily. "I can't believe you did this to me again and worse yet that you are doing this to him and to her. They are still children Dumbledore as much as you want them to be soldiers they are teenagers. They didn't deserve this handed to them, none of them did," Severus said before walking out of Dumbledore's office, not letting the crazy old man answer him again. He had had enough of the crooked man's talk about how this was for the benefit of someone. It didn't help that now he would have to figure out what to do about Lily. He felt instantly protective of her. She was carrying a piece of him, of them, and she was practically in the line of fire. He supposed the first thing he needed to do was contact her about her pregnancy and figure out what she wanted to do about it. He couldn't even imagine how alone she must feel and it stabbed him in the gut. He had almost forgotten that he was angry at her too, for meeting him under false pretenses, posing as Rachel, whoever she was. That still burned under his skin too. Why was everyone against him?

Lily came back from her appointment with Madam Pomphrey with a new diet, prenatal vitamins, and strict orders not to lift more than 25-50 pounds without assistance for the sake of her baby and her back. Lily sat on the couch in the common room and sighed as she watched the fire in the fireplace crackle. Alyce sat down next to her and kept her voice down. "So how did it go?" she asked.

"More or less don't do what I've been doing to myself," she laughed. "No more skipping meals or eating piddly amounts of not so great foods. Time to start piling on fruits and vegetables I'm afraid."

"Blasphemy," Alyce said laughing. "So, the growing bet is on the fact that you are pregnant and its Ron's. So far no one has even come close to guessing the actual father."

"You are… actually enjoying this aren't you?" Lily asked chuckling.

"What can I say, I like that finally someone else is the topic of discussion other than myself," Alyce admitted quietly.

Lily hugged her friend. "It's going to be ok," she said.

"Shouldn't I be doing this for you?" Alyce asked now confused.

"No," Lily responded. "You, you really did love him didn't you?" Lily asked.

"What, how, how did we even get to this topic," Alyce asked exasperated.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "You have been following him, watching him, dating his friends, just so you could stay near him. He, for whatever reason, dumped you, without any explanation, without any remorse. He doesn't look exactly happy either Alyce. I think that something is going on, and I think maybe he might like you too, maybe even love you, but this isn't the way to go about things. To follow the gossip mill because you are hoping to hear something about him is not going to make you feel any better," Lily said.

"How did you?" Alyce asked.

"Oh please," Lily said. "You've never cared what sort of rumors are going around this place until this happened. Now it seems like you are reaching out for whatever little tidbit you can get through the grapevines because he won't talk to you. That's how you were able to keep tabs on me, he stopped being hot news. It was never about hearing things about yourself, it's about being connected to him."

They both sat in silence for a few moments. "I just want closure," Alyce said finally.

"Don't we all," Lily said sighing. "Maybe you should approach him yourself for that rather than depend on the gossip mill to give you what you want. You want to know if he's moved on and why he wanted so badly to be rid of you, then you are going to have to get that information yourself. If he isn't able to give it up, then you at least have some peace knowing that you were not the problem. If he can't communicate then he will never be in a relationship, period," Lily said.

"I think something is wrong," Alyce admitted. "He's… acting very strangely."

Lily nodded and listened. Alyce explained all of the happenings she had come upon, how Draco spent his time in the room of requirement, having Crabbe and Goyle pose as first year girls in order to keep the cover. Lily couldn't help but giggle at the idea of Crabbe and Goyle having to drink polyjuice potion to become eleven year old girls. She let Alyce continue. Alyce described talking to moaning myrtle, and how Myrtle had described Draco who had been crying in the girl's bathroom. "I'm worried Lily," Alyce said. "I've never seen him cry, something is really wrong."

Lily nodded. "I think things are getting darker around Hogwarts and I think Draco has gotten himself in something really bad. His father was a death eater, is it possible that Voldemort called on him to fill his father's role?"

Alyce gasped. She had always thought that that might be the case, but hearing Lily say it, to hear her own fears voiced by someone else made them too real. "I think that's exactly what has happened."

"You realize what that means don't you?" Lily asked.

"What?" Alyce asked now confused.

"He loves you enough to keep you out of the line of fire. He knows he's dangerous, and doesn't want you to be any part of it. It's really rather heartbreaking, you both have to be miserable because of something neither of you can change."

"Like a soap opera," Alyce said sighing.

"Would make a good book," Lily said thoughtfully. "Just a book filled with our adventures with Ron and Harry, Hogwarts and beyond."

"Yeah, right" Alyce asked laughing. "That might sell all of ten copies. They'd probably replace the two of us with some genius, socially awkward chick."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "Either way Alyce, he cares about you, so stop beating yourself up over this. There is nothing you could have done to change anything, and your becoming self-destructive. I'm not trying to be a prude and tell you its wrong to have meaningless sexual relationships, but it's not doing you any good, it's actually hurting you and the people you are with."

Alyce nodded. She knew it was, but that didn't mean she was going to stop.

"Maybe you should just focus on what makes you happy, really happy, not just enough to make the pain go away," Lily said thoughtfully as she got up from the couch and walked to the girl's dormitory.

Alyce watched her friend walk up the stairs and thought hard about what she had said. Perhaps it was time for her to focus on what she really wanted. But what did she want?


	19. Maybe It's Time to Change

Chapter 19: Maybe it's Time to Change

Severus Snape kept his knowledge of Lily's pregnancy to himself. He had planned on approaching her, but in the end he decided against it. He would have to approach her about it eventually, but not now. He knew if he did now he would only make things worse, he would yell at her, or take his anger out on her, when it was really not her he should be directing the anger toward, at least not all of it. He wouldn't hit her, but he would emotionally destroy her in her current state. No, instead he watched her, at first he felt a bit creepy doing it, but he had a stake in this. It was his child she was carrying, his and hers that is. He already felt a strong bond to that baby, stronger than he had felt for any living thing in a long time. He shook his head, he felt bad for Lily. He knew that he wasn't a very attractive man, and the baby was bound to pick up some bad genes.

Severus Snape entered the classroom of chattering students. He glared at the classroom and it instantly quieted down. He tried not to look at Lily, but he couldn't help it as his eyes scanned the classroom they found her. He closed his eyes rubbing his temples. He needed to stop imagining her naked, it was so wrong. He could so readily see the baby bump now; no one could possibly see it as anything other than what it was. Her uniforms no longer fit how they should; having to take on the increased girth of the baby now inhabiting her womb. Gods, even her breasts were bigger. He looked away, this was way too disturbing.

Lily hadn't gotten a lot of sleep; the baby had been kicking hard that night. She wished her baby would stick to a normal sleep schedule so she wouldn't feel so damn tired the next day, but she guessed her own heartbeat was probably keeping the baby up. She had too much time to think at night, and her thoughts always made it back to the baby's father. That was enough to get her heart racing and the baby kicking. She wished she knew what to call it, either a girl or a boy, but she hadn't had a chance to have that checked.

Ron approached McLaggen after class. It had been almost three weeks since he had confessed his suspicion about Lily to Harry and it was pretty much confirmed via the rumor mill that she had to be pregnant. She was getting rounder as the month of April bloomed into May. He knew that there was no chance that it was anyone else. McLaggen walked down one of the corridors and Ron finally saw his chance. It was nearly abandoned.

"I need to take care of something," Ron said to Harry as he followed McLaggen down the hall. Harry cocked his head to the side and followed Ron closely to see what exactly he was getting himself into.

Ron's face was red as he approached McLaggen. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he knew that the bastard would finally have to face what he did to Lily.

"You bastard!" Ron shouted at him unable to contain his anger any longer. He swung at McLaggen who was completely unsuspecting and had turned around only to get socked in the face. McLaggen crashed to the floor and shouted. "What the hell was that for!"

"You know damn well what that was for, how long were you going to let this go? Until she gave birth to your bastard child?" Ron asked angrily standing over him.

"What the hell are you talking about!" McLaggen asked rubbing his cheek.

"You slept with Lily and now she's pregnant," Ron said ready to punch McLaggen again, perhaps until he was sure McLaggen had lost consciousness.

"I NEVER slept with Lily; I didn't even get to kiss her. She avoided me the whole damn party and it was a waste of time. What's it to you anyway Weasley, someone else knock up your girlfriend?" McLaggen asked now ready to make Ron pay for that punch.

"Lily is NOT my girlfriend, and it had to be you McLaggen, she hasn't been seeing anyone else but you," Ron said.

"Well maybe she's just a slut and got herself pregnant by someone else, but it's good to know the rumors are true. Someone owes me ten galleons for that bet, though I'm glad I didn't bet for you to be the father. What a joke! Lily wouldn't shag me so she certainly wouldn't shag you," McLaggen said laughing.

Ron went to punch him again, but McLaggen was ready for this punch and grabbed Ron's hand and used his other to hit Ron square in the face knocking him completely out.

McLaggen shook his head and continued walking on. Harry approached his friend who was regaining his consciousness.

"How long were you standing there?" Ron asked completely stripped of any amount of pride he had left.

"All of it unfortunately, do you think you'll be good enough for the next class?" Harry asked.

Ron wobbled for a minute and said, "Yes, well I might as well… Harry… I was right you know," Ron said.

Harry gave him a funny look and then got it. "I guess you were," Harry said.

Lily and Alyce walked to their next class. A girl that Lily didn't recognize gave Lily a strange look with big eyes and then whispered something in Alyce's ear. Alyce shooed the girl away and continued walking leaving Lily a little confused.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked.

"I just made a nice bit of money on a bet I made," Alyce said cracking her knuckles as she took a seat in class.

"Oh?" Lily asked. "What exactly was the bet?"

"Well….." Alyce said.

"Oh Alyce no, please tell me you didn't bet on the baby," Lily said looking disappointed.

"I'm using the money for your baby shower," Alyce said smiling.

"There will be no baby shower," Lily said glaring at her friend.

"Oh come on Lily, it'll be small, just me and you and a couple of other girls who don't hate both our guts. It'll be nice," Lily said.

"Since when are you a party with the girl's kind of person?" Lily asked.

"Since my best friend has something worth celebrating. You are going to be popping out Snape's spawn in just a few short months," Alyce said laughing.

"Could you keep it down about that, I've been really careful to keep that one from getting out to anyone but you," Lily said shushing her.

"You STILL haven't told him?" Alyce asked her voice going from that of playful prodding to demand.

"No, and that is my choice," Lily said. "Do you have any idea how quickly that news would travel?"

"That is a good point, but after classes, when you are sure you aren't coming back next year… you'll tell him?" Alyce asked.

"I'm… I'm really not sure…. I don't know if I want him to know about the baby Alyce…. He's a suspected Death Eater, with a dark mark. What if he does something terrible to the baby or Voldemort does because I'm basically a traitor. I can't let any harm come to this baby," Lily said rubbing her stomach.

"You know, everyone knows your pregnant now, you're really not able to hide it anymore," Alyce said looking at the bump protruding outward underneath her friend's uniform.

"Yes, well they were bound to find out one way or another," Lily said. "It's not as if you can hide these things forever."

"If anyone gives you a rough time you know where to send 'em", Alyce said slamming her fist into her other hand in mock threat.

"I can take care of it, but thanks for the support," Lily said trying not to laugh as their next class began.

Alyce tried not to meet Draco's eyes as they passed in the hall. Draco stared the two girls up and down before passing them by. Alyce sighed to herself and Lily patted her on the shoulder.

"If it's any consolation, he looks like shit," Lily said. "He doesn't look like he's slept in days."

"I can't even remember how long it's been since I slept with him," Alyce said stopping for a moment.

"Five months, three weeks, and a couple days give or take," Lily said.

Alyce gave her a very strange look, "That's how far along I am," she said laughing. "We were both single the day after this happened," she said while pointing to her enlarged stomach.

"Strangely I have not seen you pile together strange foods as I assumed most pregnant women would," Alyce said. "Though what do I really know about pregnant women other than what I've seen in film."

"Well, I've been craving some very strange things, but I was trying to keep a low profile. Guess that cover has been blown."

The weekend came upon Hogwarts and it was one week until the Quidditch finals. Ron swallowed hard and approached Lily in the common room. "Lily, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked quietly.

"Sure," Lily said smiling. The two sat on the couch which was deserted as the weather was so nice. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Lily, I know you're pregnant," Ron said looking directly at her enlarged abdomen.

"Yeah, word has gotten out about that hasn't it," Lily said also looking down at her abdomen. Both were quiet for a moment until Ron finally cleared his throat and spoke.

"I thought you slept with McLaggen you know, I beat him up, or erm well I tried to. He really isn't the father then?" Ron asked.

"Of course not!" Lily said almost yelling.

"Well, if not him then who?" Ron asked.

"Ron, that really isn't something I want to talk about ok?" Lily said rising from the couch.

"Lily, how could it be any worse than McLaggen?" Ron asked.

"Ron, I really, really don't want to discuss this with you. Please don't bring it up again. It's a very upsetting topic," Lily said turning away from him so he couldn't see it in her face.

"Oh…. Lily…. I'm sorry," Ron said feeling like an asshole.

"No, its ok Ron, really, just let's talk about something else ok?" Lily said awkwardly.

While Lily and Ron were having a very awkward conversation in the common room Harry was walking down the corridors thinking about the Quidditch tournament next week. He was hoping that he could finally tell Ginny how he felt. After the incident in the common room just a few weeks ago Ginny had become single. He knew if he didn't act soon she would be out of his fingers again.

He stopped for a moment hearing noise coming from the boy's bathroom. He could hear Moaning Myrtle and the sound of another voice, a male voice, and by the sound of it the owner of the voice was crying. He cracked open the door to see Draco Malfoy looking very distraught. He eavesdropped for a few moments more and for a single moment he actually felt compassion for Malfoy. "He's scared out of his mind," Harry thought to himself and before he had any more time to concentrate on that Draco had turned around was wielding a curse at him. After that point it was war, with curses going left and right, with no opponent really getting hit.

Draco went to raise his wand again. Harry could hear him beginning the Cruciatus curse and Harry, without thinking; spoke the spell he had seen in his textbook. "Sectumsempra!" Harry shouted.

Draco dropped to the floor his face spurting blood from the cuts that were now covering it. Harry began frantically trying to hold pressure on the wound to no avail. Professor Snape stormed into the bathroom and upon seeing Draco on the bathroom floor slowly bleeding to death he performed the countercurse. Snape looked livid, beyond livid.

Severus Snape patched up the work from a spell that looked very familiar. It was his spell! How had this sniveling brat found it! He thought for a moment of any library book he could have written it down in. No, he hadn't done that. As he took Draco to the hospital wing, he began to think of any place he had written it down. "Your potions book," he thought to himself as he brought Draco into the infirmary. He stormed back into the boy's bathroom where he had asked Harry to stay.

"Bring me you're schoolbooks, ALL OF THEM!" Snape shouted.

Harry scurried out of the bathroom and Snape waited still livid. He needed to destroy that blasted book. He smirked to himself for a moment. Slughorn had bragged on Potter for having such natural potions skills and now Snape could see how the boy had stolen his Potions book. Ok, stolen was a harsh word, but he had certainly received credit where credit was not due to say the least.

Alyce heard the news before most people had heard it. She rushed down to the hospital wing. She didn't feel like she was in her right mind at all. She needed to see him. She had to know that he was ok.

Alyce was the first person in the infirmary. She sat down by the bed and looked at the gashes on his face. She looked his pitiful body on the bed; he was thin, pale, and beginning to look slightly emaciated. She stroked his hair out of his face. She sighed heavily. This was wrong. She couldn't do this. She gave him one more look over before she left the infirmary. She needed to move on, she had said it before, but she was sure now. This was too painful, he was obviously going to do something that was going to get himself killed, and she wanted nothing to do with it. She had enough drama, and even if she loved him, she knew that this would only lead to pain for her. She shook her hair out and for a moment and realized she just felt fine being by herself. She could take a break from guys, she didn't need it. She didn't know where this left her, but with everything else going on in her life, she didn't need the drama or the complications that surrounded that. She needed to focus on how she could help Lily and Harry for that matter. Her friends had gotten her through every hard time and now she would get them through their hard times. She smiled softly to herself even though the tears were still coming down. She was ready.


	20. The Only Exception

Chapter 20: The Only Exception

A week later Alyce, Lily, Ginny, and Ron walked down the Quidditch field together before Ron and Ginny separated from the group to get dressed and ready. Lily and Alyce waved sadly to Harry who walked to his detention with Snape that afternoon.

"Wish I could switch Harry places," Lily said. "I'm not really interested in Quidditch, just coming out to support Ron and Ginny."

"Nah, I think there's another reason you would rather switch places with Harry," Alyce said winking.

Lily lightly punched Alyce's arm and shushed her, but there was an apparent blush on her cheeks. "I'm not in any condition for any of that, this bump is hard enough to get used to while walking, and tying my shoes, let alone… any other physical activities.

"At least you got around to altering your uniforms, they were getting ridiculously tight. Almost into my territory," Alyce said laughing.

"Except you're not pregnant," Lily said laughing. "I feel like everyone is staring."

"Everyone is staring, but you are sort of… large Lily… no offense.. It just sticks out, and I don't think many people are used to that image in Hogwarts. Heard rumors that a couple of guys here would still like to give you go," Alyce said laughing lightly again.

"Enough," Lily said shushing her again. "You've had your fun at my expense, how is the not dating thing going anyway?" Lily asked changing the subject.

"Well, a week isn't my record, but it's getting damn close," Alyce said laughing again as they sat down in the stands next to Luna.

"Hi Luna," they said in unison.

Luna smiled brightly. "It is a nice day for a Quidditch match," she said motioning to her usual roaring lion hat. The two smiled and began to watch the match.

Snape grinned widely as he forced Potter to rewrite all the records starting with those of his father. Snape knew it was somewhat cruel, but the world was a cruel place, and the boy should be happy at least he wasn't scrubbing cauldrons again.

He sat at his desk watching Potter for a little while but then he got distracted and began toying with Lily's earrings in his desk. It was hard not to focus on the growing bump underneath her uniform. He had to admit it was strangely sexy, which of course made him shake his head again. "Such inappropriate thoughts about a student," he thought to himself. He focused on Harry again who appeared to be filing things away without emotion now. Snape sighed and closed his eyes imaging how uncomplicated things would be if, well if a lot of things hadn't happened. If he hadn't become a death eater, he could have at least tried to court Lily Evans, and then perhaps the boy who was in front of him filing away records would be his son. That was an almost a horrifying thought. He supposed things would have been a lot simpler if he hadn't become a death eater in the first place. He wasn't sure where he would have ended up after that, but he could almost guarantee himself that Lily Kacufrakus would not be pregnant at this moment, at least not because of him. No, he supposed she probably wouldn't have been period, now that he knew Dumbledore's role in this, he couldn't imagine the little wallflower shagging anyone before she graduated Hogwarts. She probably would have had Weasley's spawn eventually or Potter's and settled down someplace and raised probably a half dozen kids. He sighed, and had the same image of her in his own mind, except she was raising a half dozen of his kids, looking just as she did when she was posing as Rachel. He shook his head violently. That was not a daydream he would ever allow himself.

Snape excused Potter after a few hours grinning when he realized the boy had missed the entire Quidditch match and his team had probably lost badly. Either way there was no doubt in his mind that he ruined the boy's day, which was good enough for him.

Lily and Alyce walked back to the common room where a rowdy celebration was beginning. Harry walked in a few minutes later and jaws dropped as he kissed Ginny. Ron looked a bit shocked at first, but then seemed to get over the shock and motioned for Harry to go ahead. Ron sulked off and Lily followed him into the boy's dormitory.

"Ron, are you ok?" Lily asked softly entering the dormitory behind him cautiously.

"Not really," he said sitting down on his bed.

"He's your best friend, you know he'll take care of her better than anyone else could have," Lily said patting him on the shoulder as she sat down next to him.

"Yes, I know that, it's just, I'm a bit jealous," Ron said looking over at her.

Lily got a strange and uncomfortable look on her face and Ron slapped his forehead and said, "No I'm not jealous because I want to date either of them… That came out wrong… I am jealous because I really want something like that, to be with someone who wants me for me."

"I think that's about the deepest thing you've ever said," Lily said smiling at him.

"Thanks for coming back to talk Lily, but I'd really rather be alone," Ron said turning away from her.

Lily nodded. "I'm going to go then, I'll see you around," she said, getting up off the bed and going back out to the common room.

Alyce watched as the party seemed to come back to life after the small shock of Harry kissing Ginny. Lily rejoined Alyce in the common room and Alyce nudged her. "So?"

"So what? His best friend just full on snogged his sister, he's in a rough spot," Lily said.

Alyce shrugged and smiled outward. She grinned at Seamus Finnigan who seemed to be a bit taken aback by that.

"Seamus is checking you out," Lily said poking her.

"No boy rule, remember?" Alyce said giving Seamus an even bigger smile. "Though, no one said anything about teasing."

Lily shook her head and chuckled, "You are awful, and that is why I love you."

Professor McGonagall came into the common room for a moment and the room quieted. Everyone looked back at Lily who was motioned to come with McGonagall. The eyes watched her as she left the room.

Lily followed her out pale as a ghost. She wasn't sure why she was being called out, but she knew it couldn't be good. Had someone found out that she had slept with Snape? She couldn't see how, but then again anything was possible.

McGonagall sat down with Lily in her classroom after shutting the door. "You are a very bright girl Lily, and I'm about to give you an opportunity I think would be best for you to think on," McGonagall began saying. Lily's ears perked up.

"I am going to offer you a chance to do independent study for the next month so you can attempt to take the NEWTS test. It is customary for students to finish their seventh year before completing the NEWTs, but we are willing to make an exception so that you may find a job to support yourself and your… baby," McGonagall said cringing at the last word.

"A year early?" Lily asked. "I'm not sure how that seems fair to everyone else in my year who would obviously want the same treatment."

"No one else in your year needs this opportunity, and no one else in your year could pass the test given so little time to prepare for it. I have high hopes for you, you don't have the greatest chance of passing it, and I'm not sure how that will complicate your health and that of the baby, so I want you to think hard about that and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of it and get back to me on it before Monday so I can begin to give you study material. This won't give you any excuse to fall behind in your current classes, but you may have a chance at a better career in the future with a completed NEWTS and education from Hogwarts. Not everyone has the fortune of the Weasley twins to drop out and start a successful business,"

"I'll think about it," Lily said. "And I will get back to you on Monday, thank you for the opportunity."

McGonagall nodded and Lily walked out of the room to rejoin the Gryfinndors in the common room. She explained to Alyce the options she had been given in private.

"Wow, a year early… lucky!" Alyce said.

"You think I'll be able to pass?" Lily asked worried.

"You could pass that test right now if you were given it, take the opportunity Lily, usually I wouldn't tell you to give up on your sleep since you barely get enough as is, but at least take the test, if you don't pass then oh well, but if you do think about how much better that will make things," Alyce said.

"How very supportive of you," Lily said smiling. "I think I'll do it then, it'll be odd though not taking them with you, Harry, and Ron. Then again, the whole situation is strange; I never thought this would be me, seventeen and pregnant with Snape's baby."

"Oh, that's right you are seventeen now, when did we celebrate your birthday?" Alyce asked looking somewhat shocked.

"We didn't, with everything that's been going on it just got a little passed over," Lily said shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lily," Alyce said frowning.

"Nothing to be sorry for, at least you remember now, both Harry and Ron forgot a while ago and probably won't remember until it comes around again next year," Lily admitted. "If I see you all again next year that is…"

"Believe it or not I did get you a gift, I had it wrapped and everything, just time passed by and well, here you go," Alyce said trying to lighten the mood. She motioned for Lily to wait as she dug through her trunk and finally found what she had been looking for. She handed Lily a shiny blue package.

Lily held the gift in her hand, "You really didn't have to do this Alyce."

"Like hell I didn't, now open it and say thank you," Alyce said chuckling.

Lily ripped the paper delicately to find a baby name book. Lily stared at the book a long minute. Alyce looked uneasy, "Well, I got it for you after we found out about the baby… I didn't know if you would have a name picked out yet, I can take it back if you want."

Lily hugged her so hard she nearly tackled her to the ground, "It's perfect."

"Oh jeez Lily, a simple thank you would have sufficed," Alyce said.

Lily began flipping through the pages. "This would be so much easier if I knew if the baby were a boy or a girl."

"You don't know?" Alyce asked. "That would drive me crazy."

Lily shrugged and the two flipped through the book.

Severus Snape kneeled at the feet of his other "master" with Draco in tow. "What news have you brought me, Severus?"

"I have managed to infiltrate Potter's inner circle," Snape said following the plans of Dumbledore. Dumbledore had meant for this to happen, and now the stupid fool was getting exactly what he wanted.

Voldemort's eyebrows rose. "That is quite impressive news, tell me more Snape," Voldemort said motioning for Snape to stand.

"Do you recall the three he surrounds himself with," Snape stated.

"Yes, the brunette, the redhead, and the blonde," Voldemort said remembering seeing them in the boy's memories. He gathered that the blonde provided the muscle necessary, the brunette provided the strategy, and the redhead had given undying loyalty.

"I have managed to gain influence over the brunette," Snape said clearly.

"And how exactly did you mange that?" Voldemort asked unconvinced. From what he had seen these people were very hard to tear from Potter.

"I impregnated her," he said plainly unsure of any other way to state that fact.

Voldemort eyed the man before him up and down. "Give me proof," Voldemort said plainly. He honestly did not believe a young 16-17 year old would be interested in Severus of all men. Perhaps if Draco or his father had brought such news it would have been more believable, but Severus?

"Draco, is the girl not pregnant?" Snape said turning to Draco.

Draco's face was pure shock. "Yes, she is," Draco said.

"Well, I am impressed Severus, you have eliminated a significant resource to Potter, and managed to get a little something out of the deal as well. You could all learn from this kind of ingenuity," Voldemort said grinning maliciously.

"Draco, perhaps you could do the same to the other, when your through with killing Dumbledore that is," Voldemort said turning to Draco.

Draco paled. "I will keep that in mind," he finally said after gulping in air.

Voldemort claspsed his hands together in what appeared to be glee; a sick and twisted sort of glee that is. "Break down Potter's resources and attack while weak, this is the kind of thing that takes you from boot licking death eater to someone with higher ranking. There will be privileges in the new world order for the two of you if you manage to succeed."

Snape bowed to Voldemort and said, "I must be going, I will deliver news as I get it."

Voldemort allowed the two to leave and Draco finally said to Snape, "You… you really shagged Potter's friend?"

"I don't believe that is any of your business Draco," Severus said as they began to get ready to return to Hogwarts.

"He did," Draco thought to himself. He wouldn't speak it aloud, but Draco knew.

The two made it back to Hogwarts and Snape said to Draco, "You need to focus on killing Dumbledore, you have made a few feeble attempts, but this is crunch time, the dark lord will not wait much longer for you to complete your task."

"I know you are doing this for my mother, but just stop. I've got this, and I really didn't ask for your help," Draco lashed.

"I made the unbreakable vow Draco, even if I wished to beseech you're request, which I do not, there is no way for me to allow you come into any harm. Get used to my presence boy because until you kill Dumbledore you are going to be seeing a lot of me," Snape said.

Draco grumbled and walked through the portrait hole and into the Slytherin common room. Snape gripped his forehead. He desperately needed a drink. He had told Dumbledore that after his meeting with Voldemort that he would come up and give any news. He was already exhausted, but pulled himself along, up to Dumbledore's office to pass on the news.

"What is the news?" Dumbledore asked.

"He hasn't given too many details, but it appears that he is planning to overtake the ministry soon in some way. He is looking for an inside man to get the job accomplished," Snape said. "Other than that he wanted to know mostly about what was going on here."

"And what did you pass on?" Dumbledore asked leaning forward.

"I told him that I had infiltrated Potter's inner sanctum by impregnating his best friend," Snape said coldly staring at the man. "Just as you requested."

"Severus, I realize you are making a big sacrifice, that you always have for the side of good," Dumbledore began to say but Severus stopped him.

"I am going to lie down, it has been a long day," Severus said not wishing to speak with the man any further.

"Certainly," Dumbledore answered Snape. "We can speak of these matters at a later time."

Snape nodded though all he wanted was to punch the man in the mouth. Snape shook his head after leaving Dumbledore's office and began the walk back to the dungeon so he could lie down in his bed in his dormitory off the Slytherin common room. He had had a long day and needed to close his eyes.

The next day Alyce woke up and stretched. She noted that she was one of the few awake beside Lily and Ginny, who she assumed were most likely in the common room. The Gryffindors had been up most of the night celebrating the winning of the Quidditch cup. She had gone to sleep early; she really had no interest in celebrating anymore. She knew Lily had gone to bed before her and she herself had fallen asleep before Ginny had come in. She walked into the common room, not bothering to get dressed. She was perfectly comfortable in her pajamas. She saw Lily working diligently on her scrolls and studying from books that looked unfamiliar to her. "Guess she must be studying for her NEWTs," Alyce thought to herself.

Alyce looked over to the couch and saw Harry holding Ginny close. Her heart ached thinking about how long it had been since someone she cared for held her like that. She shook her head. She turned back to see Lily gripping her head.

"Let's go for a walk," Alyce suggested tapping Lily on the shoulder.

"Oh, I didn't even see you there, sorry," Lily said. "Yes, a walk does sound good," Lily said. "Oh, but you are still in your pajamas."

Alyce looked down. She was wearing fuzzy slippers, short shorts, and a tight tank top. "Yeah, should at least lose the slippers."

Lily chuckled slightly and watched as Alyce walked back into the girl's dormitory to come out only exchanging the fuzzy slippers for flip flop sandals. "What?" Alyce asked seeing Lily rolling her eyes and chuckling again. "It's the weekend and I'm clothed."

The two walked the corridors for a while and were getting ready to walk back to the common room when they turned the corner and the two bumped into someone. Alyce and Lily got up and saw that the person that they bumped into was Malfoy.

"Could you watch where you are going," Alyce spat at him.

Draco got up a bit disoriented. He saw two girls in front of him and his face went white. The one he had been avoiding was right in front of him, and of course there was the other one who was carrying Snape's kid. That was a disturbing thought, especially when the evidence was right in front of his face. Then there were his orders to create the same chaos with Alyce. He absolutely couldn't accept that.

He sneered at the two before walking on. Lily patted Alyce on the shoulder and she seemed completely untaken aback by the encounter. "Asshole," she said quietly, as if to herself.


	21. I'm Gonna Give All My Secrets Away

Chapter 21: I'm Gonna Give All My Secrets Away

The month of May sped by faster than the rest of the months had. Lily watched how the world seemed to move around her so quickly and fluidly. Things were working out as they should; Harry and Ginny were finally together after so many months of the both of them being too hard headed to realize the other one was ready for a relationship. Alyce was boy free for the first time in many years. This wasn't exactly a good thing, but she was able to focus on what she wanted from life and seemed to be handling things in her own way. Ron, he was the only one who seemed not to be moving forward with the rest of the crowd. She had expected him to sulk for a while after he and Lavender had broken up, but this was becoming a bit ridiculous. Then of course her, she was changing with every passing day, as her body grew to accommodate its second passenger. The baby was due in just a few short months and she realized that not even her family had known she was pregnant. She hadn't gotten up the nerve to send an owl out to tell her brother. It wasn't as if she could hide it when she went home in less than two weeks. She wasn't sure if there was room in that house for one more person. She knew there was definitely enough "room" when you considered space issues, but she was more worried about the need for attention from both her ailing grandmother and the newborn. She guessed that she really didn't have any other options outside of that.

Alyce noted that Draco was returning her gazes when she found herself staring at him in Potions. She would always turn away first, but when she would quickly glance out of her peripheral vision she could see that he was still staring at her, though much more sneakily after she had turned away. She had, on two separate occasions, almost approached him, but something did not feel right about that, so she stuck to her gut instincts.

Harry had begun to get used to his new normal, which consisted of seeing Ginny when she wasn't busy with her classes or studying for her OWLs and with his usual Saturday detentions with Snape. He was irritated on that particular Saturday because he had wanted to spend time with Ginny, and the weekends were the only time she could really spare a good amount of time to spend with him. He filed until 2 PM when Snape finally released him. On his way back to the common room he received an urgent message from Dumbledore. He had all but forgotten about the Horcruxes in his new found happiness with Ginny, but he knew now that things were finally going to get accomplished on the finishing off Voldemort front. He hurried up to Dumbledore's office, but ran into Professor Trealawney on the way who seemed to be disoriented. Harry chuckled to himself, "When is she not disoriented?" he thought to himself.

Trealawney shared with him that she could not get into the Room of Requirement and someone in there had sounded very happy. Harry knew that nothing good could come from that. That must mean whatever Draco had been working on had finally come through, which he knew could never be a good thing at all. Trelawney had also shared with him a bit of information he had not known before and that information in particular made his blood boil. He couldn't think after she told him that Snape had been the one to tip off Voldemort about the prophecy that got his parents killed. He was only seeing red as he rushed to Dumbledore's office. He had to know why Dumbledore placed trust in a man who put Harry in this situation to begin with. If Snape hadn't overheard that prophecy he could be living with his parents instead of the horrible Dursley's, he wouldn't have to worry about killing off Voldemort before Voldemort killed him, he could have had a halfway normal time at Hogwarts, well as normal as it could be for Hogwarts, and the Wizarding world wouldn't consider him the Chosen One. By the time he made it to Dumbledore's office he had all but forgotten about the Horcrux that Dumbledore had called on him in the first place for. He exploded at Dumbledore who calmly told him nothing about the matter, just that he trusted Snape for reasons of his own. Harry knew he was hiding something vital, but once the Hocruxes were mentioned he changed his focus to that.

Dumbledore said to meet him at the front entrance in five minutes. His heart was racing as he rushed back to the boy's dormitory to get his invisibility cloak. That was not the only thing he had to get in order before he left. He had to be sure that Ron, Alyce, and Lily were adequately warned about Draco's recent overjoy. Draco being overjoyed was never a good sign. As he got to the boy's dormitory, he dug through his trunk and found his old cloak and also found the luck potion he had gotten so many months ago. There was still some left and he knew what it needed to be used on. He would give it to Ron, Alyce, and Lily and let them pass it on to Ginny as well. It might just be the luck they needed if all hell did break loose before he got back they would at least be protected.

He found Ron and Lily first who were both sitting on the couch, one working diligently on their studies and the other who appeared to be napping. He quickly explained the situation to them and the two sat stone faced. He didn't give Lily or Ron any time to argue or question as he handed the Felix Felicis and Marauder's Map to Lily and Ron. "Let Alyce and Ginny know what's going on and round up the DA, Dumbledore isn't going to be here tonight and I know Snape is involved in this somehow so you are going to need all the help you can get," Harry said quickly before leaving. He didn't look back to see if Lily or Ron had responded.

As Harry hastily left the room Ron and Lily looked at one another confused. "What are we going to do?" Ron asked.

Lily sighed. As much as she thought Harry was paranoid sometimes, especially when it came to Draco, she was guessing that he was probably not wrong to be worried this time. She knew something was wrong, but she didn't know how Snape was involved. She hadn't spoken to him since, well since the baby had been conceived, and even then she was in disguise. She knew very little about the man who impregnated her.

Alyce came down a few minutes later and Lily quickly explained what Harry had explained to her. Instead of sitting stone faced as she and Ron had when Harry told them, she looked quite angry.

"I knew it," Alyce said quietly. "I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it."

"Knew what?" Ron asked. Lily patted Alyce on the shoulder knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Draco is a death eater," Alyce said the words catching in her throat.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked again now his face covered in shock.

"No, but I have a strong feeling that that is the case," Alyce said. "That means that we do need to be on high alert, because he could have something very dangerous planned. Lily, do you still have the coin for calling the DA?"

"I've already alerted them," Lily said. "By any chance was Ginny up in the girl's dormitory with you?" Lily asked.

"No, I think she went to the library," Alyce said.

"Harry wanted you, me, Ron, and Ginny to drink this," Lily said holding up the Felix Felicis.

"And, we are supposed to keep an eye on Malfoy and Snape using this," Ron added holding up the Marauder's Map.

"I'm going to find Ginny, and I've asked the DA to meet us by the Room of Requirement. I don't know if Malfoy is still in there, but we can at least have a centralized place to meet before finding another place to go if the room is still occupied," Lily said.

Lily rushed out of the room and Ron and Alyce walked to the room of requirement. When they turned the corner, they were shocked to see that most of the group members were already there in high alert.

"Thanks for coming," Ron said. "We are just waiting for Lily and Ginny and we'll be ready."

Lily rushed into the library where she already saw Ginny getting to her feet. "Ginny must have gotten the notice from the coin," she thought to herself.

"Lily, what's going on?" Ginny asked as they walked to the room of requirement.

As they turned the corner Lily and Ginny saw the group there waiting for them. Lily once again explained the story and the group began discussing what they were going to do. "I don't know what is going to happen, but we need to be on high alert."

"Do you think in your current condition that you should be fighting if it comes to that?" Ginny asked Lily.

"I can keep an eye on the map, but if necessary, I will fight. Other women have fought with the same condition, I will just have to be much more cautious," Lily said. "I can also send instructions via the coins to help you understand what's going on, because the plan is that we are going to spread out and cover all parts of the castle to be sure that we meet any attack head on."

The group nodded and Lily, Ron, and Alyce gave them their post assignments. The group separated and that left Lily, Ron, Alyce, and Ginny by the room of requirement.

"I wanted you all to stay behind because Harry gave us this," Lily said holding the Felix Felicis. "He only had enough for the four of us."

The small group nodded and each passed the small tube around to take a swig. Alyce, Ron, and Lily stayed by the room of requirement and Ginny went to her separate post.

Lily, Ron, and Alyce watched the map carefully. They were hidden around a corner so that when Malfoy appeared from the Room of Requirement they would see him, but he would not see them. They waited for what felt like hours, but in reality was only at most twenty minutes. They were not expecting what appeared from the Room of Requirement.

The first body out of the room was exactly who they expected, Draco Malfoy. What followed behind made them all gasp quietly. Lily quietly slipped farther around the corner sending out a red alert to the DA as she prayed no other students were in the hallways. She knew she would have to alert the Order of the Phoenix next, but she waited until she knew it was safe. She watched as Alyce and Ron attacked first trying to catch them off guard and Lily sent out the distress signal then using her Patronus.

She knew she had given away her position and she bolted away from Alyce and Ron hoping to at least draw a couple of the death eaters away from them. She finally was stopped by a hideous looking man and harsh looking woman. She reached her hand behind her ready to draw her wand when the woman stopped the man who was about to perform a curse and said, "No, stop Amycus, look," the woman said pointing to Lily's stomach. Lily had a look of shock covering her face. Had a death eater really spared her because she was pregnant?

"Ah," Amycus said grinning. "I didn't believe Snape, but it appears this is the girl. Pretty too, do you think he'd mind," Amycus said approaching Lily. She gripped her wand ready to hex him.

"No," the woman said stopping him. "If you want a student you'll have plenty to choose from after we overturn the castle, leave this one."

Lily saw her moment and hexed the two of them and continued running. She had to be sure that no innocent students would be in the hall, now more than ever. She had tears running down her face. Snape knew, and if he knew that she was pregnant, how much else did he know? Why hadn't he said anything to her, let her suffer through this alone, yet bragged to all of these death eaters that he had fucked her? Had he done something to her? Tricked her into fucking him perhaps? Had he had the whole thing planned from the beginning? Made her feel like she was in love with him? Well, she knew now that she didn't love him, as she wiped her eyes, she HATED him. Hated that she had slept with him, hated that she had ever felt like she loved him, hated that she was going to leaving Hogwarts to raise his child. She rubbed her stomach feeling her baby kicking frantically. She didn't hate this baby, she could never hate this baby, but she could never love the man who did this to her.

Alyce and Ron battled the Death Eaters hard. Ron and Alyce split up and the Death Eaters spread out. They both knew there was no way that they could fight them off all by themselves and after seeing Lily's Patronus, they knew that she had alerted the Order. They would be soon getting the backup they needed, but they couldn't fight these death eaters with just the two of them. They noted that Lily was already alerting the rest of the DA and having them meet in a centralized location. "Power in numbers," Alyce thought to herself as she continued running.

Alyce ran as far as she thought she could before noticing who was behind her.

"Malfoy," she said with pure spite and hate in her voice.

"Get out of my way Alyce," he said his voice and eyes both cold as ice.

"No, I want to know why you did this. Why in the hell do you think it's ok to get everyone here killed? Are you really that evil that you want every student here to die? You fucking bastard, answer me!" she shouted at him as he ran in the other direction.

Malfoy ran away from his ex-girlfriend. He couldn't be seen associating with her or her fate might be the same as her friend Lily's. He had to find Dumbledore and he had to kill the man before this got any more out of hand.

One death eater cast the dark mark and after that pure chaos ensued. Lily tried to round up as many of the students in the halls as she could and herded them into the room of requirements not knowing where else to put them. "Don't move," she told the younger students. "You stay here until someone comes to get you, you will be safe here, but only if you stay here together."

Lily finally felt that she had cleared the halls adequately when she saw a figure approaching her. She shot a spell at this person, which was blocked easily. As the figure approached she noted that it was Snape, the one person she had wanted to hex the most.

"You slimy git," she said under her breath.

Snape stared at the girl intrigued. He should be the one angry at her not the other way around. "Put down your wand," he said to her sternly.

She shot another hex at him as he approached her. "Stay away from me, don't touch me!" she yelled casting another spell which he easily blocked again.

"You need to close your mind my dear or you will never be able to overpower me," Snape said.

"Get out of my head," Lily shouted at him holding her head in her hands.

Snape heard yells in the distance and left Lily there. Lily ran to see what was happening and saw that Bill was attacked by what she assumed to be a werewolf. Terror filled her as she saw the werewolf coming back in for the killing blow, when Tonks sent a curse flying toward the werewolf, knocking him away. They heard movement in the astronomy tower and a few began to make their way up there to see what had happened.

The castle was silent for a few moments as Lily found her way back to Ron and Alyce. "I've put all of the students who I found in the halls into the room of requirement," Lily said. "They should be safe."

"What about us," Ron said wiping blood from his lip. "What's going to happen, there is no way we can fight them all off, where are Dumbledore and Harry?" he asked.

"Ron, pull yourself together!" Alyce shouted at him. "We have been through much worse without the help of the Order. It's going to be ok."

Ron nodded and Lily was impressed with her ability to keep calm and to help Ron work through some of his fears. She knew the group of them would be ok without her.

They heard a deafening crack and saw a body drop from the astronomy tower. There was a battle as the death eaters fled from the castle. Lily caught only a glimpse of Snape once more fleeing the castle with the rest of the death eaters as she herself was battling the woman who had spared her baby earlier. Soon all of the death eaters had followed and were retreating and Hogwarts was quiet.

Harry followed Snape unable to think straight. He had just seen the man that Dumbledore had trusted so much, the man who had put him in this predicament by getting his parents killed, kill Dumbledore.

Harry tried as hard as he could to cast the Cruciatus curse several times, but he was blocked every time by Snape.

"No Unforgiveable Curses from you Potter!" Snape shouted almost taunting him as he continued to flee.

Harry tried again but Snape blocked him again. "Fight back!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs. "Fight back you cowardly-," he began to shout.

"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" Snape shouted back. "Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"

Harry tried again to curse the man, but felt excruciating pain and dropped to the ground. "NO!" Snape shouted at another death eater. "The boy is left to the Dark Lord!"

Harry felt the curse lift and heard footsteps rushing away. He tried a couple of the Prince's curses before finally Snape retaliated. Harry felt himself jetted backward tumbling head over heels a few times in the grass.

"You dare use my own spells against me!" Snape shouted at him. "It was I who invented them- I, the Half Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so…_no!"_

"Kill me then!" Harry shouted knowing that he had no wand, and not feeling anything but hate and contempt. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward!"

"DON'T-" screamed Snape as he turned around, his face twisted and manic. "DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A COWARD!" he shouted.

Harry felt white hot pain, so bad that he nearly blacked out. "You are no man," Harry said in a low voice to him.

Snape's face suddenly contorted into a twisted smile. "I'm man enough to have your friend screaming my name under me while I put that baby inside of her."

Harry laid in shock as he heard the man chuckle and rush toward the gates dissapirating beyond them.

After he was sure Hagrid and Fang made it out of the burning hut ok and the hut was completely put out, Harry rushed back over to the castle to find a huddle around Dumbledore's body.

He saw the man, his mentor, lying broken on the grass. His limbs were twisted in many directions. He stood there for many moments next to the body before he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and heard a familiar voice, "Harry, you need to come to the hospital wing, you're bleeding."

"You!" Harry turned around shouting in Lily's face. He was completely unable to control his rage at this point. "Don't you dare touch me, you tart. You shagged a murderer! Snape killed him!" Harry said frantically pointing at Dumbledore.

Lily blushed brightly, but was mostly in shock. She heard the whispers around her. "I'm sorry," Lily said quietly. " I didn't.. I never meant…" She began saying, but couldn't find her words and eventually just broke through the crowd with her head down and ran toward the castle.

Harry suddenly felt the eyes on him after the outburst he had just made. Ginny grabbed him by the hand and lead him to the hospital wing where he stayed with the others who were injured during the battle.

"Have you seen Lily," Alyce asked holding a cold compress to her now blackened eye.

"I…" Harry said.

"He yelled at her, something about her shagging Snape," Ginny said quietly.

"Oh," Alyce said quietly.

"It's not true is it?" Ginny asked quieter.

"I think that's something Lily would have rather have told her you herself," Alyce said.

Ron's face was covered in shock as well. "No," he said. "There's no way she would betray us like that," he said.

"She wasn't betraying anyone," Alyce said. "It was an unfortunate mistake, and she's terrified of him. Please give her a break, she didn't mean for any of it to happen," Alyce said trying to stick up for her friend. "You guys gave me a hard time when I was dating Draco and it drove me away. She needs your support just as much as I did, if not more. She's going to have his baby, a baby that wasn't ever supposed to happen. She's got a hard road ahead of her and the last you two gits could do is be the friends that's she always been to you when you two most certainly did not deserve her friendship."

The two sat quietly and stared at Alyce. "What? I've been known to be reasonable every now and again."


	22. Love, Save the Empty

_**Chapter 22: Love, Save the Empty **_

Lily tried to collect her thoughts as she went up to the room of requirement. She hadn't expected that kind of outburst from Harry, and now it was out. She was carrying a murderer's baby. She knew how fast news like that would spread around Hogwarts. She didn't know how Harry had found out, but she assumed Snape must have thrown it in his face, or he had heard it from one of the death eaters, which is how she had known that Snape had known. She opened the door for the safe room she had made for the students, and students began filing out all chattering. Some seemed disappointed that they hadn't seen a piece of the action, others seemed terrified to find the aftermath of the battle.

A small girl held onto Lily's cloak obviously scared out of her mind as Lily led the students out. She bent down to the first year's level and smiled. "You were very brave," Lily said to the girl.

The girl smiled and let go of Lily's cloak and followed her friends, her head held a little higher. Lily smiled to herself weakly as she made sure every last student was out. "I'm turning into Professor McGonagall," she thought to herself as she closed the door to the room of requirement after being sure that the last student was out.

She decided to visit the hospital wing, if nothing else to make sure that Alyce was ok. She knew she would probably be approached by Harry again, but at this point she just didn't care. Everyone knew, or everyone was going to know, so what was a little bit more yelling and hatred. Perhaps she deserved it; she had slept with the enemy. She rubbed her stomach wondering what her new child would be like. "Nothing like his/her father I hope," she thought to herself as she walked into the hospital wing.

Lily walked into the hospital wing, and the talking that had been occurring had turned to silence. "Word travels fast, that should be no surprise," Lily thought to herself as she kept her eyes forward and walked toward Alyce and Harry who were both lying down having their wounds tended to.

"Are you two ok?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Alyce answered for the both of them. "You should probably get checked out too though; all that stress couldn't have been good on you."

Lily chuckled a little. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm made of glass," she said. "But I'll get checked out in a little while, I just want to sit down and think."

Lily sat down next to Ron who looked a bit uncomfortable. She could feel their eyes on her as she crossed and uncrossed her ankles. "I don't know what to say," Lily said uncomfortably.

"How… could you Lily?" Harry asked unable to choke more than those words.

"I don't know…" Lily said honestly. "It all… happened so fast. It seemed like an accident at first, but then…" she said before sighing. "It doesn't matter, I hate him, but I'm having a baby regardless of whether I think the father is a complete and utter arsehole."

The three stared at Lily in shock. "What?" she asked.

"You're surprisingly relaxed about this whole thing," Alyce said quietly.

"What else can I do, I'm having the child of the man who murdered Dumbledore, and who knows how many others," Lily said.

"A baby," Ron said as if that was a shock to him. "You're having Snape's bloody baby!" he asked as if he had just caught on to what was going on.

"Snape got her pregnant, pregnancy leads to an infant," Alyce said shrugging her shoulders.

"I can't believe Dumbledore is dead," Harry said while shaking his head. "I just… this can't be happening,"

Ginny rubbed his shoulders. Lily hung her head.

Harry had to explain the details to the order and Lily and Alyce sat by and watched Fleur tend to Bill's wounds. "That's an odd couple," Lily said.

"Wish someone loved me like that," Alyce said back.

"You and me both," Lily said. "Though under better circumstances, poor Bill."

The four sat in silence. The sound of Fawkes's lament could be heard through the window. The Order members were being caught up on the whole situation. They listened intently as Harry explained what had happened in the astronomy tower, but did not explain anything else other than that Snape had killed Dumbledore. The members stood in shock unable to grasp what was going on. There was some disbelief that Harry must be mistaken, but the evidence was against him. Snape was no longer able to be trusted and had killed Dumbledore in cold blood.

Mrs. Weasley looked to Ron once she had heard all the details. She looked rather stunned.

"Lily?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yes?" Lily responded.

"You…," Mrs. Weasley began not sure what to say.

"Yeah," Lily said already knowing what Mrs. Weasley was going to say.

"Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked still in shock.

Ron seemed to see that Mrs. Weasley was connecting dots that weren't there. He quickly shifted away from Lily and said, "No mum, it wasn't me I swear!"

"Ronald Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley shouted unable to take all that had happened that day. "How dare you lie directly to my face?"

"He's not lying," Lily said quickly.

Mrs. Weasley looked unconvinced. Alyce intervened. "They are both telling the truth Mrs. Weasley," she said.

"Then, who…?" Mrs. Weasley said confused looking over at Harry.

Harry shook his head too. He looked back at Lily who was obviously mortified, but hiding it rather well. She stared ahead clearly at Mrs. Weasley and said, "It appears Snape is up for many awards in the slime category," she said plainly looking away from the group.

Mrs. Weasley's mouth hung open. She didn't want to believe what she had just heard from the girl no older than her son.

Lily looked back to see Tonks mouth gaping, Remus by her side his mouth also hanging open. Mr. Weasley looked a bit consumed by rage. Mad Eye had not said a word, but seemed to be contemplating something deeply, she was sure he was unconcerned with the matter and she rather liked that she admitted to herself. She didn't want this attention, but her stomach was growing with every passing week and it was impossible to hide the evidence of what had happened on a cold evening in November.

Luckily the attention had been taken away from her when discussion was open about another topic. Lily took this as her moment to slip away and take her last looks at the grounds. She would stay for Dumbledore's funeral and that would be the end. She had taken her NEWTS and would wait for the results, but she doubted she would be welcomed into most of the wizarding community when it was known that she had had sex with a professor who just so happened to be a murderer and top of all that was having his child. Yes, she would probably be a lot less hated if she just merged back into Muggle society.

She looked out across the lake. The sun was beginning to come up and the student body had cleared out. Hagrid had moved Dumbledore's body and she looked at the spot in the grass where she assumed his head had hit the ground. There was a spot of blood in the grass and the grass was flattened in the shape of a body. She turned away from the spot trying not to think of what had happened.

Alyce joined her a half an hour later and stood with her looking out on the lake. "You realize none of us are coming back next year," Alyce said.

"What?" Lily questioned.

"Harry, Ron and I discussed it," Alyce said. "We are going to look for Horcruxes," Alyce said quietly looking around to be sure no one was looking.

Lily nodded. She had half expected it. "You are welcome to join us," Alyce said in an even quieter voice.

"Having me and a baby around will only slow you down," Lily said. "This baby is going to need constant care especially in the first year of life. I'd like to come along, but I think it might just end up being dangerous for you, Harry, and Ron." Lily started. "Plus I doubt either of them really wants me along now that they know I'm carrying a murderer's child."

"Lily you need to stop beating yourself up about that," Alyce said patting her on the shoulder. "You didn't know what was going to happen, and this baby certainly didn't know. You can't blame yourself or the baby for Snape's actions."

"You guys are going to be fine Alyce," Lily said smiling. "Hearing you talk like that makes me know you'll be able to hold it together. I'll help as much as I can, but I have this feeling Snape is going to be after me soon enough. He probably thinks because he impregnated me I have some kind of tie to him and Voldemort, but that's not the case. Perhaps that's what he was after all along," Lily said quietly.

Alyce got a strange look in her eye at Lily's last comment. "Alyce?" she asked.

"Draco, what if he was trying to do the same thing, it's obvious he is with the death eaters, that he was sent to kill Dumbledore, and Snape did it for him. Lily, what if he was trying to do the same thing to me that Snape did to you," Alyce said anger filling her.

"It's hard to say Alyce," Lily said trying to console her friend. "I guess unless you are up against him face to face you'll never know."

"Oh if he ever has the misfortune of being face to face with me he had better be ready for the ass kicking of his life," Alyce said furious.

"That's the spirit," Lily said cautiously stepping away from the fuming Alyce. They were joined by Harry and Ron a few minutes later as they had torn themselves from the Order who had grouped in the hospital wing.

"So when are you due?" Alyce asked trying to break the silence and trying to control her own anger.

"August," Lily said. "Not sure when in August, but August nonetheless."

"So you'll be going home and staying home then?" Ron asked.

"Probably, Alyce told me of your plans with Harry. I do hope to help in any way I can, but I'll be taking care of the baby and probably my grandmother as well. Last time I saw her she wasn't doing well. She is losing more of her memory. Alzheimer's has been a hard disease on her."

The three nodded solemnly and continued watching the sun rise over the water. The world was quiet; Fawkes had flow away from Hogwarts, not returning the group assumed.

"Are you staying for Dumbledore's funeral?" Harry asked her.

"Of course, just because he was killed by the man who unfortunately is responsible for this," Lily said motioning to her enlarged stomach, "doesn't mean I'm not going to pay my respects to Dumbledore."

Harry nodded. The group was silent once again. "I wish you were coming with us," Ron said quietly.

"I do too," Lily said hanging her head.

The group was stood together as they found seats for the funeral. They had to wait a couple days for the funeral to be put together. Lily avoided most people during this time unable to stand the staring and the whispering. Alyce stayed up with her most of the time not wanting to see the rest of the student body either, but for different reasons. She wanted to stay upstairs absorbed in her own thoughts, even if those thoughts were not healthy. She went back and forth from longing for Draco's touch to wanting to beat him to a pulp for what he had done to her, how he had betrayed everyone, especially her.

Harry and Ron left the girls to themselves, not that they had much of a choice. Both Alyce and Lily had holed themselves up in the girl's dormitory. Harry had not seen much of Ginny either, but that may have been because he was avoiding her. He knew what he had to do and as much as his heart wanted the opposite, he had to keep her safe. He had to break things off with her, at least until either he or Voldemort were dead. He didn't want to believe that he would be the one to perish, but if that were the case, he had to keep Ginny safe. He couldn't ask her to wait for him, as he had no idea how long it would take to find the Horcruxes and destroy Voldemort, but he wanted to so badly to believe she would wait for him.

He couldn't avoid her at the funeral, and even Alyce and Lily left the dormitory to pay their respects. Lily was silently crying in between Alyce and Ginny. Ginny's eyes were also shining with tears and Alyce looked the most stoic, though occasionally she would dab her eyes as well. Lily had tried to find a black dress that would fit, but ended up with something that lay rather tight against her abdomen and breasts. "No way am I hiding the fact that I'm a pregnant student," she thought as she saw a couple of pairs of eyes she didn't recognize looking at her stomach. Dumbledore's friends or associates she assumed, she wondered how many knew Snape had killed Dumbledore, or how many knew that she was carrying Snape's child. She didn't want to think about it she decided. She wouldn't worry what everyone else thought, what did it matter anyway she would probably never see this people again anyway.

Alyce chose a longer dress than she was accustomed to wearing. She saw many people she had slept with in the crowd, former students and current students. She took her place next to Lily and unfortunately the person to take the next seat was Lavender Brown. Lavender was crying openly, and Alyce decided not to say anything to her. None of the petty things they had argued about the year before were worth bringing up. They were in the middle of a war and the man who had motivated them to fight, lay in a coffin in front of them.

The service was lovely, and Alyce and Lily went back to console Hagrid after the service was over. Harry caught sight of Ginny and decided now was the best time to break the news. She seemed to already realize the news was coming as she finished his sentence for him. She smiled slightly, as if she had been expecting it all along. "I'm in love with the chosen one, I knew it was going to happen at some point, get what you need to get done, and know that I'm behind you, and you know where to find me when you are ready," Ginny said before joining Alyce and Lily to console Hagrid who was still crying quite loudly.

Harry, Ron, Alyce, and Lily all gathered their things and waited for the train. "Last year at the Dursley's," Harry said sighing loudly in relief. "Almost sad to see that place go," he said and then laughed in which he was joined by the others.

"I'll keep in contact," Lily said.

"Let us know of the scumball ever comes to take responsibility for his child," Alyce said gritting her teeth.

"I'm sure Harry would like to be the first to know that so he could kill the bastard, but I'd really prefer to cut his balls off before we go about killing him," Lily said viciously.

Ron and Harry gave her a very worried look and she laughed slightly, "Made me feel better to say it, but don't expect any news on that front. Snape is a cowardly git who refused to tell me he knew I was carrying his child, and instead bragged to everyone he knew. He's got no honor and I know I won't be hearing from him if he knows what's good for him."

"Well, Alyce where will you be staying?" Harry asked.

"Need to find someone to take care of Bug for me, but then I'll probably be chilling at the Burrow with Ron and his family. There is nothing left for me back in the States, and it'll be easier for us to go on with our journey if I'm in the country."

Harry and Ron nodded. They sat together on the train on what was one of the longest and quietest rides any of them had had since they first met. When they reached King's cross station the four separated each going their separate ways. Lily to her grandmother's, Alyce to catch a flight to the United States, Harry to the Dursley's car and their unwelcome home for the last time and Ron back to the Burrow; it was an ominous departure that lead them to wonder if they would ever meet again at this station the same people they were when they left.


	23. Save Tonight

Chapter 23: Save Tonight

"Lily, we have to go, NOW," Mr. Weasley urged.

Lily woke up, her eyes fixed and opened only slightly as if from a stupor. She never remembered letting Mr. Weasley in, she didn't remember seeing any of them since she had left King's Cross station over a month ago.

Lily blinked trying to remember all the things that had lead her to this awful in-between state, where she wanted so badly to just stay asleep. It all seemed to happen so fast, and now that it was over. Lily was left alone, or rather she thought she was alone, waiting for the day when the Death Eaters would finally track her down and kill her and the baby, or use the two of them.

She closed her eyes remembering all that had happened since she had left King's Cross station in early June.

_Flashback (Just in case there was any confusion)_

"RACHEL!," Lily awoke the sound of her grandmother screaming.

Lily scooted herself out of her bed and went to see what the woman wanted. It had been a month since she had been back to her home and was getting used to things. Sam had been, displeased with her current state, but had not said much and was especially happy to hear she was staying and would be helping to take care of Elaine. He had even brought some friends of his over for the first time in a long time. Lily had just gotten Elaine settled down and left Sam and his friends to chat while she took a nap. It seemed that that nap would be short lived.

"Yes?" Lily asked.

"You need to start eating better for that baby," Elaine said barely able to sit up in bed.

"I'm eating fine," Lily said back to her grandmother. She was surprised the woman realized she was pregnant at all. Granted, she was now in her eighth month of pregnancy and she was very… apparent.

"Where is your husband?" Elaine asked firmly.

"Working," Lily said not sure what to say to the woman.

"My first grandchild," Elaine said touching Lily's stomach. "It's going to be a boy," Elaine said matter of factly. "You should name him Adam, after your father."

Lily shook her head. "Ok mom, is there anything I can get for you?"

Elaine coughed. Lily looked down at her concerned. She hadn't looked this bad the day before. She was slightly blue and she looked more swollen than usual.

"Elaine?" Lily asked shaking her grandmother.

Elaine was silent, almost as if sleeping.

"Sam," she yelled her voice trembling.

Sam entered the room looking annoyed. "What?"

"I think we need to get her to the hospital now!" Lily shouted.

Sam and Lily waited in the ER for what seemed like hours. Finally a doctor approached them.

"She passed about an hour ago, there was nothing either of you could have done. It's a miracle she lived this long."

Lily and Sam sat silent. Neither of them had expected this. She had been sick over the years, but she had never been so close to death that it had been expected. "What happened?" Lily asked the doctor after a few moments of silence.

"Elaine was very sick. She has had many bouts of pneumonia like this over the years and it's permanently scarred her lungs. There was no hope outside of a donor lung, and she would have never qualified. We tried to make her last years comfortable, but this was how it was going to end," the doctor said calmly.

Lily sat in complete shock unaware of any of this. Sam talked to the doctor a little while longer while Lily tried to soak it all in. The woman that they had spent years caring for was gone. Lily felt guilty that mixed in all this grief was a slight feeling of relief. She didn't know how much longer she and Sam could take care of the woman before it became too much. Lily felt sick to her stomach.

Sam sat down next to her his eyes looking colder than they ever had. "I don't even know what she would have wanted, cremation or burial," Lily said softly.

"That's because you were never here to know," Sam said bitterly. "I spent all those years taking care of her and she dies like this."

"Sam, I'm so sorry," Lily said.

"I'm sure you're relieved," Sam said with spite in his voice. "Couldn't imagine perfect Lily taking care of crazy old grandma Elaine. No, instead she goes and gets herself knocked up before she stays home to help out."

"It wasn't like that," Lily said quietly.

"You know Lily, I don't care. I don't care about anything when it comes to you. We may share a birthday and two parents, but we share nothing else in common. I wish you would have just stayed at that damn school and left us alone. I hope you don't expect my help with this baby because I'm done taking care of things around here," Sam said.

"I would have never asked you to," Lily said staring at her feet.

Sam stormed out of the hospital and Lily helped fill out the last of the paperwork. She decided on burial as Sam was no help, and she chose to have Elaine buried in the same cemetery as her parents.

Lily went back to the house after the arrangements had been made and after she had talked to the funeral director about the service and burial. She was exhausted by the time she stepped back in the house but it felt colder than it ever had, and empty.

"Sam," Lily called out.

There was no answer.

Lily walked further into the house and saw Sam stone faced staring at a blank wall in the living room. "I'm sorry," Lily said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Sam sat very still and Lily wondered if he had heard her at all. Finally he turned his head toward her and with pure hate in his voice he said, "You think sorry is going to fix everything Lily? Well guess what, it isn't. I hate you. I hate everything you've done to this family. You are the most selfish bitch it's ever been my misfortune to know. And on top of it you are a slut. I wish I had let child protective services find out about Elaine and split us up. But no, I looked out for my perfect sister, thinking that at least one of us would turn out ok. But instead you gave it all up, for some stupid guy who knocked you up. You are so fucking selfish I can't even believe I'm related to you. I wish I weren't!" he yelled at her before he turned away from her again.

Lily stood stunned trying not to let it show how much it had gotten to you. "Do you really want that?" Lily said in a small voice that didn't even sound like her own.

"Yes," Sam said his eyes shut. "I want to live my own life far away from you and Elaine. I want to be so far away I don't have to remember any of this happening."

"Then go," Lily said. "We have a little bit of money leftover, just go. Don't come back," Lily said biting back her tears. She knew the only way he would really go if she pushed him hard enough to.

"I'm sure you'd love to have this place to yourself but it's not that easy Lily. Unlike you I can't forget the people I care about so easily," he said storming from that room as well.

Lily didn't forget that interaction even during the funeral services. They drove home from the services and Lily finally knew what she had to do. She could feel it in her bones that they were coming for her sooner or later. The death eaters would find her, lead by Snape or Voldemort or whoever arranged for this pregnancy to occur. They would kill Sam without blinking an eye, just as they had done to Cedric Diggory two years prior. Lily needed to get him out of here quickly. She thought about it for hours after the funeral and finally decided what she had to do.

She slipped Sam a potion in his drink to keep him asleep. She took him in the car and drove him to the airport. She purchased a one way ticket to Los Angeles. She left him a very large check and altered his license so that he would be a United States citizen. She worked quickly hoping she didn't leave to many loose ends, but the last thing she did was alter his memory. He would no longer be Samuel Kacufrakus. He would now and forever more be known as Adam Granger. She left his memory altered to go and find himself an apartment in Los Angeles with the money in his pocket which she knew would get him at least a few months. She sent him with all his band equipment and most of his belongings that had no ties to either herself or Elaine. She left him sleeping in a chair in the airport knowing that he would see his ticket to Los Angeles when he awoke and he would be safe.

Lily drove back home in tears feeling like something had shattered in her. Cold filled every vein in her body until it overtook her. She lay down on the couch and shivered as she felt everything in her body go numb and just closed her eyes and let go.

_End Flashback _

Lily complied grabbing as many things as she could from the house knowing very well that she wouldn't be back.

"I need to get you back to the Burrow. Harry will be joining us later as soon as we figure out how to get him out," Mr. Weasley explained.

"I'm surprised you are helping me," Lily said hanging her head low.

Mr. Weasley's urgent eyes softened. He patted her on the shoulder and said, "No one holds it against you, and if they did they have the Weasley's to answer to. We don't turn our back on friends Lily, even if they think they don't deserve help."

Lily cracked the first smile she had since she had arrived back home. She followed Mr. Weasley to the fireplace and said, "Is this going to be safe for the baby?"

"Molly continued to use the system with each child," Mr. Weasley said helping her carry a few personal belongings.

"The Burrow," Lily said feeling herself being whisked away with half of her luggage.

Alyce paced nervously by the fireplace. She had come to the Burrow soon after getting rid of her place in Boston. She also found a good home for Bug, knowing she wouldn't be able to take her beloved cat with her when they went searching for Horcruxes. Alyce paced nervously in front of the fireplace because she knew Mr. Weasley should have been back already with Lily. Horrible thoughts ran through her head, "What if it's too late and they took her? What if it isn't too late and Mr. Weasley is fighting death eaters. What if Lily is dead? God, I sound just like her, just like a worrywart," she thought to herself.

Finally after what seemed like eons Lily emerged from the fireplace. A rush of relief went through Alyce.

"Lily, WHOA YOU ARE HUGE," Alyce said.

"Thanks, that's every girl's favorite greeting," she said in an attempt to be sarcastic, but she realized how dull her voice sounded.

"Lily, what happened," Alyce said looking straight at her knowing that something was off with her friend other than being enormously pregnant.

"Elaine died," Lily said flatly.

The two were quiet. "I'm so sorry Lily," Alyce said.

"S'ok," Lily said her voice still flat. "It was going to happen at some point. I didn't expect it to be so soon, but that's life."

Alyce nodded, knowing that wasn't the only thing bothering Lily. "Lily what ELSE happened," she said her voice shaking, expecting the worst.

"Sam is gone," Lily said.

"OH, Lily I'm so sorry," Alyce said.

"No, he's not dead. I…. I erased any memory he had of us. I sent him on a plane far away…. It would have been what he wanted," Lily said.

"I agree that you needed to send him away to keep him safe, but Lily, you didn't need to erase his memory of you or Elaine," Alyce said confused at Lily's actions.

"You didn't hear what he said to me the night Elaine died. He called me a selfish bitch and he said that his life would be better if neither I nor Elaine existed in it. So I made it so he wouldn't remember either of us," Lily said finally breaking down.

Alyce hugged her friend as tightly as she could. This was a very odd reversed moment, she thought to herself as she let her friend go and they both just stood there silently.

"Any news from the other half of this creation," Alyce said pointing to Lily's very obvious abdomen.

Lily shook her head. "I've been worried he's coming for me every day since we left King's Cross."

Molly entered the room and looked at the two girls, spending an extra moment or two on Lily's abdomen before saying, "Everyone is outside getting ready for this evening. Alyce you had better join them."

"What's going on?" Lily asked.

Alyce nodded for Lily to follow her and the two of them walked outside. Lily saw a bigger group than she was expecting. Ron was standing next to Tonks and Lupin. You could see that Tonks was glowing and Lily spotted a small ring on her left hand. Mad-Eye held a firm grip on Mundungus Fletcher and looked over her and Alyce silently and nodded. Fleur and Bill were holding hands on the opposite side of Ron, Lupin, and Tonks, and Kingsley was speaking lowly to Hagrid on the other side of them. The group was joined also by Fred and George and finally Mr. Weasley.

"We all need to be ready," Mr. Weasley said. "We leave in ten minutes."

Lily looked up at the group still unsure of what was going on. Alyce whispered a few details in her ear and her eyes widened.

"I want to help," Lily said.

"Lily, uh no offense, but can you even balance on a broom that pregnant?" Alyce said giggling. "I'm sorry it's not funny just trying to laugh a little. There has been so little to laugh about for months now."

Lily sighed. Alyce was right of course there wasn't much she could do to help. She was a giant target, and could put them all in danger.

Tonks motioned for Lily to come toward her and smiled. "After you have the baby we are moving you to a safer place."

"Me?" Lily said. "I'm not concerned with me, I screwed up my own life, and I'm surprised any of you even want to talk to me."

"Lily, you staying here will get you captured. They already know the Weasley's are friends of Harry's. The death eaters will find you and, I don't want to think about what will happen. My parents know of the situation and my mother especially respects your decision to keep and protect the baby. You are going to stay with them and they are going to help you raise the baby. They have a spare room from me that was never filled as Remus and I have a small place together."

"Yes, I noticed the ring, congratulations to the two of you," Lily said smiling.

"When is the baby due?" Tonks asked excitedly.

"I didn't take you for the baby type," Lily said smiling at her. "The baby is due sometime in August, probably in the middle."

"After the wedding then," Ron said directing Lily's attention away from the happy couple and to her friend who she noted and grown another couple inches.

Ron blushed when he met her gaze. Lily gave him a small smile and he turned away from her, the redness in his ears apparent.

Alyce looked over the group of her friends who were about to possibly risk their lives going out to rescue another friend. She was amazed by the turnout, but she guessed that it was silly to be amazed at such. Of course these people would risk their lives for Harry.

"Is everybody ready?" Mr. Weasley asked returning to the group.

The group nodded, well all except Mundungus Fletcher who looked like he was looking for any way out. They all departed, and Lily watched making a silent wish that they would all return safely with Harry in tow.


	24. Unto Us a Child is Born

_Disclaimer: Some content was taken from book, this content belongs to J.K. Rowling and not to us. In order to follow story lines we included it in the chapter. They belong to us in no way. Enjoy the chapter!_

Chapter 24: Unto Us A Child is Born

Lily waited nervously in the living room with Mrs. Weasley.

"They should have been back by now something must have happened," Mrs. Weasley said nervously.

Lily tried to comfort Mrs. Weasley the best she could, but she couldn't help but worry as well. She imagined all of the people out there now, the people she would have been a part of had she not been pregnant. She wondered if any of them had been killed, or worse captured and tortured. She got up and moved from her seat.

She waited outside feeling the warm summer night's breeze lift her hair and her skirt. That was all she was able to wear with her huge protruding abdomen. The long white skirt lifted with the wind and the branches of the willows in the distance swayed almost eerily. She had a bad feeling and she tasted the bile in the back of her mouth and felt the painful pricking of tears behind her eyes. She shook her head refusing to let them fall now. Tears would do her no good now, and pretty soon she would be a mother. Though she hadn't asked for it, she was. The last year had been a tumultuous one and now standing here staring at the stars she felt no peace. She felt a hollow ache filling her and taking the breath out of her. She closed her eyes tightly feeling the baby begin moving violently against her abdomen. She patted her stomach humming gently hoping to calm the baby. Soon the furious kicks settled and she heard a crack behind her.

Lily spun around to see what had made the noise. She saw the outline of a figure and held her wand up rushing toward the noise with her lighted wand.

"Harry?" she asked as she heard Ginny and Mrs. Weasley behind her.

Mrs. Weasley was very distraught trying to figure out what had happened. Harry was not supposed to be the first back. Harry explained that they had been ambushed and that they had been given away. Harry looked guilty for not being able to provide Mrs. Weasley any information regarding her sons, but to everyone's surprise Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry in for a hug and the group of them stood silently until there was a flash of blue light and Lupin and George appeared.

Lily could see instantly that something was wrong. George was appeared to be in and out of consciousness and he was covered in blood. She walked with the group as they went into the house, George supported by Lupin and Harry. Harry was then dragged away by Lupin into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley burst into tears and Lily rubbed her shoulders by taking a look over George to see that his ear was mangled beyond repair. The shell of the ear had been blown completely off leaving only a hole in the side of the head. Lily helped Mrs. Weasley apply pressure to the bleeding and after several minutes the bleeding ceased.

Several minutes later another crack was heard from the lawn. Harry and Remus rushed out to see the newest members joining the congregation that had gathered in the Weasley's small home. Lily turned back to see George, who was stirring. He cracked open one eye and moaned in pain.

Alyce and Kingsley were the next to enter the Burrow and they all whispered quietly. Lily's ears perked up when she heard a familiar name.

"Snape," she hissed. "Snape did this?" she asked looking to George.

Rage filled Lily's body. She felt a sharp pain rip through her but ignored it.

Alyce watched her friend's face turn from white to red. She saw Lily shaking and stepped away from George to exit the room. Alyce followed her out of the room and for the first time in their friendship she heard Lily use every curse word in the book.

"If I ever see him again I'm going to cut his fucking balls off and feed them to him, rat bastard," Lily spit under her breath as to not disturb those in the other room.

"You were surprisingly quiet," Alyce said after a few moments. "If I were in your place I would have screamed, possibly destroyed property and committed a few arsons before I got to this point."

Lily sighed and crumpled to the floor. "Alyce, I don't know how much more of this I can take. You know what they are going to look at me like when I walk back in there. He is the father of this baby, and therefore I'm just as hated by proxy."

"Lily, that's crazy, no one here thinks that any of this is your fault," Alyce said trying to reassure her friend.

"Bullshit," Lily said. "I'm sorry Alyce, but I'm calling you out on that one. Harry and Ron alone are cold to me and they are supposed to be my friends. The only ones who have treated me with any kindness are you, Ginny, and Tonks. Even Ginny seems a bit uneasy and Mrs. Weasley just seems uncomfortable. The men won't even look at me. I'm a pariah because of this."

"They are probably just uncomfortable because they don't know how to approach you Lily. You are… enormous at this point, you look like you are going to burst at any time," Alyce said trying to reassure her friend.

"I'm due in August," Lily said. "I do worry about this baby. What if it's just like him Alyce?"

"Lily, now you are talking crazy. This baby, though it may unfortunately have half of his genes will never meet his or her father so there is no worry about that. You worry so much Lily; it's not good for you."

Lily laughed out loud. "Well, I think I've hit almost every emotion in the past five minutes," she said. "Thanks Alyce, I never thought we'd have to switch roles like this."

"Oh don't worry I'll have some kind of problem and I'll be in need of the same thing from you," Alyce said.

Lily nodded and heard more people enter the room. George seemed to be awake enough now to be joking with his brother and they group was just informed that Mad-Eye had died during the battle. Lily felt her stomach lurch at that thought.

The group stayed quiet after that. Harry had another outburst and left the room and Lily sighed and followed him. He already hated her so she would be the best to talk to him now because no matter what he couldn't hurt her feelings any worse than they already had been.

"Harry wait," Lily said.

"What Lily? Haven't you and your boyfriend caused enough trouble?" he spat at her.

"Harry James Potter!" she shouted at him seeing him turn around in shock. "I'm haven't had a bowel movement in days, I have heartburn that literally radiates through my chest, this baby kicks me so hard in the bladder I hardly make it to the bathroom, and when it isn't kicking my bladders its kicking me in the ribs. That would all be fine if this weren't a murder's baby. Imagine trying to love a baby that you know is the result of something you never wanted. You need to get your facts straight Harry because you are pushing away everyone that cares about you. And you need to hear this because you aren't the only one who is hurting and I don't deserve the crap you and Ron have dished out."

Harry was silent and took a good look at his friend. It was hard to look at her knowing that she was the same age as he was and had a baby to be born in a few weeks. He had imagined her and Ron having this, years down the road, not her and Snape. He knew she wasn't lying when she stated that she had trouble loving a baby that whose genes were contributed by a murder. He hadn't truly believed it until she looked him in the eye and said it.

"Lily, I need to get out of here before I hurt these people," Harry said.

"If you leave now without a Mad Eye's death will be in vain," Lily said.

"So I've heard," Harry said back to her with spite in his voice.

"Just stay until the wedding, leave after that, I'll be staying here with Ron's parents until I'm moved with Tonk's parents after the baby is born. I can handle the family after you leave. I can't tell them much, but enough. I'll try to keep Mrs. Weasley focused on the baby so she will leave you guys alone for a while because I saw the look of craziness in her eyes. She's worried sick about all three of you. I'll do what I can to help Harry, but you have to be willing to accept the help."

Harry sighed. He hated how reasonable she was at times. "Fine," he said, which sounded much more like 'do I really have a choice?'

The two walked back into the small sitting room. Lily rubbed her abdomen feeling another sharp pain. She ignored it. Indigestion was not a new thing for her; she had been getting it for months during her pregnancy. The group stayed gathered well into the wee hours of the morning before finally departing to sleep. Lily, Ron, Harry, and Alyce were the last to sleep all crowding in Ron's room to discuss what was going to happen after the wedding.

Lily began packing books for them to take as well as many herbs and spells. "You never know," she said leaving Alyce a list of the uses of the herbs as well as useful ideas for where they could start looking.

"You'll still be keeping in touch with us so you don't need to do all this," Alyce said reassuringly. She didn't like the idea of not having Lily with them, and she knew it made the others uneasy as well.

"I have this odd feeling we are going to be separated by extenuating circumstances. You will all be on the run and it's hard to say what you are going to need. I've also packed a tent as well as a basic field guide of edible plants. Just in case you have to run into the countryside for safety," Lily said.

Ron, Harry, and Alyce shuddered at that thought. "What will you be doing in the meantime?" Ron asked. "While we are gone?"

"I don't know, I've heard these infant things they sort of take a lot of time," Lily said laughing. "Seriously I think I'm going to have my hands full for a while, but I'll keep in touch through the Order, I will be living with Tonks's mom after all."

The girls left the room an hour later to sleep leaving Ron and Harry alone.

Harry had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach but ignored it. The night was calm and no one would be coming for him tonight with all the protection around this place, meaning the Weasleys would be safe another day. He had to stop putting them at risk like this.

The next few days were difficult for the quartet. Mrs. Weasley kept them all busy with separate tasks so they were not able to congregate and discuss the plan to leave. It was just days before the wedding and all the guests had arrived. The date got closer and closer until it was just two days before. Charlie had arrived and there was an argument arising from the kitchen as to the cutting of his hair.

"I liked it the way it was," Alyce grumbled to Lily while they lay on the floor in Ginny's room. Ginny was already fast asleep in her bed.

"Did you get Harry a gift for his birthday?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, his birthday has always been a bit of a bummer hasn't it? Some shit always going down," Alyce said.

Lily nodded. She couldn't believe that the last of their group would be seventeen in the morning. She also couldn't believe that while they were out doing what they needed to do to stop Voldemort, she would sit in the sidelines as a teen mother who got knocked up by a guy twice her age. She sighed and tried to roll over and sleep.

"Well, I think I'm going to give myself a little gift before the wedding. See if Charlie would like mourn the loss of his hair with company," Alyce said getting up.

"You can't be serious," Lily whispered to her.

"Of course I'm serious, this is probably the only lay I'm going to have for months so give me a break," Alyce said smirking as she slipped out of the room.

Lily rolled her eyes.

Alyce tiptoed through the creaky house until she made it to the room Charlie was staying in. She knocked gently hoping not to wake Bill who was sharing the room with him. She waited for a few moments and saw a familiar muscular redhead with a short haircut answer the door.

"What can I do for you?" Charlie asked puzzled that his brother's friend was standing on the other side of the door.

"I think the question is what can I do for you?" Alyce asked her voice layered in a seductive tone.

Alyce and Charlie could hardly do what she had planned in the room with Bill so they went outside. It wasn't as if she had never ventured outside for such trysts, but it had been a while. He laid her on a shabby looking table to which he magically covered with a blanket of silk first.

"Yeah getting a splinter during this would have been a bitch," she said chuckling.

The two went at it for and before either of them had a chance to finish Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs and they both got dressed quickly and hid while she went out into the yard muttering about gnomes making so much racket. When she saw nothing outside she walked back inside turning to make one last sweep of the grounds with her eyes and then retired to bed once again.

Charlie and Alyce both breathed a sigh of relief and then Charlie looked at Alyce and said, "Now where were we?"

Lily woke up covered in sweat. She looked at the clock on the wall and it read five o'clock in the morning. Lily had only slept a couple hours and she felt a horrible pain go through her. "No," she said to herself. "It's too early," she thought. She then of course remembered that technically she had slept with Snape twice so it was hard to say if she got pregnant the first time they had been together or the second. If it had been the first time she would be due at the beginning of August and it was July 31st now. She struggled to get off of the bed she had made herself on the floor and another contraction took the breath right out of her.

Ginny awoke to a horrible ripping sound and a pained moan. Ginny shot out of bed and saw Lily clutching her abdomen. "Lily are you ok?" Ginny asked the worry evident in her voice.

"Ginny, get help, I think my water just broke," Lily said feeling a pool of water around her feet that she was praying wasn't blood.

Ginny rushed from the room and brought Mrs. Weasley back with her. Mrs. Weasley timed the contractions and said, "Lily I think this baby is coming today."

"You think!" Lily thought to herself. She didn't want to be rude so she just nodded. Mrs. Weasley took her upstairs and knocked on Ron's door.

"What?" Ron asked obviously still sleepy and annoyed at being awoken.

"I hope you cleaned this room because we need it NOW," Mrs. Weasley shouted on the other side of the room.

"What for?" Ron asked confused and still annoyed.

"Lily is having the baby right now Ron and she can't exactly have it in Ginny's room or ours we have company arriving in a few hours," Mrs. Weasley said.

Ron groaned. "No! I don't want that baby born in MY room!" Ron shouted.

Lily felt another contraction go through her and couldn't hold back the yell that needed to make its way out earlier.

"Fine!" Ron said rushing from the room with Harry in tow both with white faces of shock. "You can have the room!"

Lily felt ashamed that she was causing so much trouble. "Maybe I should just go to a hospital?" Lily suggested.

"We aren't near any of them and I don't want to apparate or use the floo system while you are in labor. You are in no condition to fly either. We are going to have to deliver this baby here." Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry, Ron, and Alyce waited downstairs and invited Mr. and Mrs. Delacour in. Mrs. Weasley came downstairs to greet them as well leaving Lily upstairs with Ginny who was still timing the contractions and was to alert Mrs. Weasley when they got closer together.

"Sorry Ginny," Lily said after the next contraction had ended and she was able to catch her breath.

"S'ok," Ginny said though you could see how uncomfortable she was.

"The contractions aren't that close together so it might be a while," Lily said to her. "I don't know a lot about it, but I did some reading over the summer."

"Of course you did," Ginny said chuckling. "Lily the bookworm."

"Can I make a suggestion for Harry and yourself?" Lily said.

Ginny raised her eyebrows and looked as if she wanted to argue that there was a Harry and herself.

"Save it," Lily said. "We all know what happened and the only reason you aren't together. But, back to my original statement, use a condom until you are ready for this," Lily said pointing to her abdomen.

Ginny and Lily both began laughing the tension dissolved slightly.

When Mrs. Delacour heard about what was going on upstairs she wanted to chip in every way she could.

"I love babies," was all she had said when she ecstatically agreed to help.

Even Fleur began helping out with the preparations leaving Mrs. Weasley to play hostess and midwife. She baked Harry's birthday cake and dinner saying to the group, "We've probably got several hours until the baby is due."

Lily sent Ginny away for a while and Tonks sat upstairs with her. "Sorry you got roped into timing contractions," Lily said. "I'll be fine for a while if everyone wants to go downstairs and enjoy themselves. I let out a bloodcurdling scream when its gets close to time," Lily said laughing trying to dissolve the tension.

"Are you sure?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, I'll spend the time trying to save up my energy and rest," Lily said. "Chances are I'm going to need every ounce of energy I can get."

Tonks nodded and left Lily alone in the room. Lily closed her eyes and rubbed her abdomen.

Harry, Ron, and Alyce didn't say much while all of this was occurring. Harry received his birthday gifts from Alyce and Ron.

"Thanks," Harry said smiling.

"Lily had a gift for you too, I can go and ask her where it is," Alyce asked cringing as she heard a scream from upstairs. Alyce wanted to be with Lily during this time, but Lily had said, "The baby isn't going to be here for hours, you need all the time you plan with Ron and Harry and this should give Mrs. Weasley the distraction needed to let you finish your planning." Alyce didn't like what Lily had said, but she knew it was logically the best answer. She vowed to herself no matter how sick to her stomach it made her she would be with Lily when the baby was ready to be born.

"Hey it's been about ten minutes from the last one," Alyce said. "So now is your window of opportunity."

Harry shook his head chuckling slightly. He was glad Alyce had broken the nervous tension. Ron had been the one who hadn't been dealing with it very well, but Harry knew why.

"Poor kid," Alyce said. "With half of Snape's genes it'll be hard for it to turn out even slightly attractive later in life," she said cringing. "Even with half of Lily's genes."

"How much do you want to bet it has Snape's nose," Harry asked.

"Three galleons," Fred and George said at the same time as they walked into the conversation.

"I wasn't serious," Harry said.

"Nah, I'm in too," Alyce said laughing. "I think it'll have Lily's nose though, just a hunch."

"I'm saying Snape's," Ron said putting money into the bet as well.

"Lily's," Ginny said also putting money in.

Harry shrugged and said, "Well if everyone is betting I'm saying it will have Snape's nose as well."

Mrs. Weasley served the cake not wanting to wait any longer for Mr. Weasley. As soon as she had started to cut Mr. Weasley's patronus which simply stated, "Minister of Magic is coming with me."

Silence fell over the gathering. Remus and Tonks left quickly without much explanation.

Mrs. Weasley appeared bewildered and no one had time to register what was happening before they saw the silhouette of Mr. Weasley in the distance followed by the Minister of Magic. They approached the house and both faces were blank, Mr. Weasley appearing slightly uneasy behind the blank face.

"I require a private word with Mr. Harry Potter, Ms. Alyce Fire, Ms. Lily Kacufrakus, and Mr. Ronald Weasley." the minister said.

A scream started from upstairs and everyone turned to look up cringing. Mrs. Weasley rushed by calling for hot water and more hands. Another scream was heard from upstairs until finally Mrs. Weasley got upstairs to close the window.

"Lily's busy at the moment," Harry said trying to hold back his cringe.

"What in Merlin's beard is going on up there?" Scrimgeour asked the color drained from his face as another scream ripped through his sentence.

"Lily went into early labor and by the sounds of it, the baby is going to share a birthday with Harry," Alyce said quietly.

Scrimgeour did not say much about the matter after that. "Is there a private place for us to sit down?" Scrimgeour asked.

"The sitting room," Mr. Weasley offered confused as to what was really going on. The four went into the sitting room and sat down.

"I have questions for all three of you, and I'd like to question you separately starting with Mr. Weasley," Scrimgeour said.

"If you are going to question us, you'll question us together," Harry said with spite in his voice.

"Fine then, together," Scrimgeour said looking as if he wanted to fight the matter, but gave up on that. "I am here on the matter of Albus Dumbledore's will."

Another scream came from upstairs and Alyce stood up and said, "I'm going upstairs to be with her, you can all stay down here, but she needs her friends at a time like this."

Alyce walked up the stairs knowing that this wasn't going to be easy. She didn't get sick easily, but she knew what happened with childbirth and she wasn't sure she could handle watching Snape's baby tearing her best friend apart as it made its way through her birth canal. She felt like she was throwing up in her mouth just thinking about it.

Alyce entered the room and held her friend's hand while Mrs. Weasley instructed her to push.

"PUSH," Mrs. Weasley shouted as Lily grunted sweat running down her forehead and yelled out as she pushed as hard as she could.

"Thanks," Lily said in between pushing. "For being here with me, I know this can't be a pretty sight."

"That's what best friends are for," Alyce said cringing as Lily pushed again.

"I see a head," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's almost over Lily."

Lily gave a couple more good pushes and the baby was finally out. Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Delacour both cleaned the baby up and Lily finally heard the first cry from the infant.

"Iz a boy!" Mrs. Delacour exclaimed.

Alyce passed Lily a towel to wipe her forehead. "Can I hold him?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said passing the new infant boy to Lily.

"Zat is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen," Mrs. Delacour said.

"I can honestly agree with that," Mrs. Weasley said looking the baby over curiously.

"Your baby is surprisingly good looking," Alyce said. Lily glared at her. "Seriously, I can't see any of Snape in him."

Lily looked at her baby and was shocked. The baby was perfect, and very cute, even on baby standards. "I think the baby is too attractive to be from either of us," Lily said honestly. "I certainly wasn't expecting this.

The baby had fine black hair that appeared as if it would curly, bright green eyes, clear smooth skin, and soft facial features with slight angles. "Are you sure this is Snape's baby?" Alyce said looking the baby over. "It looks a little like Harry."

Lily blushed brilliantly and looked over at Ginny who looked like she might just slap Alyce for the comment. "I can assure you its Snape's child; I haven't slept with anyone else so I'm positive."

Ginny relaxed and Alyce said, "Well I guess it's just luck then."

Harry, Ron, and the minister all sat downstairs waiting. Mrs. Delacour was the first down the stairs and said, "Iz a baby boy!" She proceeded to tell the rest of the guests as well that both mother and baby were doing well.

Mrs. Weasley was the next down the stairs, "She said you may come up if you like, she and Alyce are staying up there so you will have privacy and it has all been cleaned," she said though most of it was directed at the minister.

The minister nodded and looked apprehensive to go up the stairs. The three walked up the stairs and Ron knocked on the door. "Is everyone decent?" he asked.

"Yeah, Lily is done feeding the baby so you can come in," Alyce said imagining the blush on Ron's face. She could already see the color in Lily's face.

The three entered the room and made themselves as comfortable as they could. Lily held her new infant while Alyce stood beside her. Harry and Ron sat on a small sofa and the minister chose a chair.

"I suppose we should get down to it then," Scrimgeour said clearing his throat obviously uncomfortable with the arrangement. "I'll start with Mr. Weasley," he added clearing his throat again for good measure. "Why do you suppose that Dumbledore would leave you an item in his will Ronald? Were you close to Dumbledore?"

"Well, not particularly," Ron said stumbling on his words.

Alyce cleared her throat and said, "Don't be modest Ron, you know you were close to Dumbledore. And, excuse me for interrupting what I'm sure would have been a direct attack at Ron, but why has it taken you a month to get these items to us. Dumbledore died in June."

Lily let out of a soft sarcastic laugh. "It's obvious isn't it? They examined the items and had no right to do so," Lily added matter of factly.

"I had every right," Scrimgeour said ignoring Lily's comment. "The Decree of Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate items at will…" he began.

"IF," Lily said interrupting him. "They are HIGHLY suspected to be items related to dark magic. Are you trying to tell us that you thought Dumbledore was going to pass us cursed items?" Lily asked glaring.

Scrimgeour returned her glare. "Planning on pursuing a career in magical law Miss Kacufrakus?" he asked.

"Absolutely not," Lily said sharply. "I hope to do something good for mankind."

Ron, Harry and Alyce chuckled. "Well why are you returning them now?" Harry asked. "Couldn't find a good enough reason to keep them?" Harry asked.

"No, the thirty one days are up," Lily said.

"Are you going to tell us what we were left?" Alyce asked.

_"To Ronald Bilius Weasley I leave my Deluminator in hope that he will remember me when he uses it." _Scrimgeour read handing Ron the device.

Ron examined it and was able to turn off the light in the room. In response Lily's baby began to cry. Ron flicked the device again and the lights returned.

"Shhh," Lily said rocking the baby softly.

"I believe Dumbledore designed that object himself," Scrimgeour said watching Ron fiddle with it between his fingers. "Dumbledore taught hundreds, maybe even thousands of students, yet the only ones mentioned in his will are you four," Scrimgeour said after a few moments of silence. "Why do you think Dumbledore bestowed this item to you Mr. Weasley?"

Ron shrugged. "To turn off lights? What else could it be used for?"

"Yes, what else indeed," Scrimgeour said moving onto the next item. "_To Miss Alyce Jordice Fyre I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive." _

Scrimgeour handed Alyce the book and Alyce grasped the old book in her hands her eyes dewing. She normally didn't cry in front of so many other people, but this was an occasion that it could not be helped. Holding that book solidified that Dumbledore was truly gone and they were all on their own.

"Why do you suspect he gave you that book?" Scrimgeour asked curiously.

Alyce shrugged. She was a good student but Lily was the one with her nose constantly in a book. "Its fairy tales so I suppose I'll read it to my new godson."

Lily smiled at that response and Scrimgeour continued with his questions. "Did Dumbledore ever speak of codes or a means of passing messages in secrecy?" he asked Alyce.

"No," Alyce said with spite dripping from her voice. "He did not, and if the ministry hasn't found any by now there aren't any to find." She said angrily wiping a few stray tears away.

Scrimgeour ignored this and turned to Lily who held a now sleeping infant in her arms. "_To Miss Lily Sophia Kacufrakus I leave a silver locket to fill with memories of those she keeps closest to her heart," _Scrimgeour said handing Lily a heart shaped locket.

Lily wept openly as the locket was passed to her. Alyce rubbed her shoulder and Lily said, "Sorry, hormones are still a nightmare."

"Why were you left this locket do you suspect Miss Kacufrakus?" Scrimgeour asked.

Lily shrugged. "Sentimental gift I suppose," Lily said wiping her eyes. Alyce helped her put the locket around her neck.

Scrimgeour watched her cautiously and said, "We found charms on the locket. Most appeared to be for keeping its luster, but a few were concerning," he said.

"Oh," Lily asked.

"Yes, well their appeared to be some sort of memory preservation charm on it," Scrimgeour said.

"Memory preservation," Lily said. "Imagine that, on a necklace meant for holding keepsakes." She said rolling her eyes.

Scrimgeour cleared his throat, obviously not happy with the answer he received but could think of no better argument. He finally read the last of the will, "_To Harry James Potter I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quiddiitch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill." _

Harry was handed the Snitch and both Scrimgeour and Harry looked disappointed when nothing happened when Harry touched the Snitch.

"Snitches have flesh memories," Alyce said. "So if there were anything to be found on the Snitch it would have happened already. So Dumbledore didn't leave us any 'messages'. Just a few keepsakes to remember him by," Alyce said wiping away another stray tear.

"Is that all then?" Harry asked looking at Scrimgeour who looked as if he had something else to say.

"Yes, well Dumbledore did leave Mr. Potter one other thing, the sword of Godric Gryffindor," Scrimgeour said.

The four waited patiently for the sword to be brought out, but after a few moments of stunned silence Harry finally said, "Well, where is it?"

"Unfortunately, the sword wasn't Dumbledore's to give. It belonged to the school."

Harry and Scrimgeour argued this fact until Harry finally said something that made Scrimgeour lose his temper. Scrimgeour raised his wand and burned a hole in Harry's tee-shirt. Ron jumped up to his aid and Lily and Alyce both yelled out. The baby began crying again and they all heard footsteps up the stairs.

"We heard raised voices," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I was just leaving," Scrimgeour said turning back on the group of them one last time before leaving.

Harry explained what had been left for them and they stayed upstairs as guests came into the room to see the items, wish Harry a happy birthday and to see the new baby.

"Wha' did yer name him?" Hagrid asked.

"Brian," Lily said. "In Dumbledore's honor, I figured the name of Albus rightly belongs to Harry if and when he decides to have children, so I chose one of Dumbledore's middle names," Lily added. "His middle name is my brother's name, Samuel," Lily said with hurt behind her eyes. She shook it off and smiled as she handed the baby to Hagrid who held him very gently.

"Cutest baby I ever seen," Hagrid said.

Fred and George both laughed when they came into the room, and they were the last of the guests to come upstairs. "Looks like we owe you girls some cash, as do Ron and Harry so I guess we better pay up," Fred said.

"Excuse me?" Lily asked.

Alyce chuckled. "They bet on whether the baby would have Snape's nose." She said. "Hey! Don't give me that look I bet that your baby would have your nose, and I was right!"

Lily shook her head and chuckled and the rest of the night was quiet as they all awaited the wedding that would take place the next day. Alyce waited until she and Lily were the only ones in the room and she finally said, "Lily that locket is covered with about a million charms. They appear to be some kind of memory charms," Alyce said.

"Yeah, the minister had said something about that, do you have any idea what they are meant to do?" Lily asked.

"I've been delving into advanced Charms," Alyce said. "Past Hogwarts level and honestly past most of those they would have had looking this thing over at the ministry. Dumbledore obviously didn't want anyone to know what this thing was meant to do so he disguised it cleverly as memory preservation which is something many charm lockets with. I'm not sure what it does, but I think it's supposed to protect you in some way."

"I can use all the help I can get," Lily said looking at her sleeping baby in the basinet by the bed.


	25. The Great Escape

**Chapter 25: The Great Escape**

Lily watched the guests file in from the window upstairs. She had been moved out of Ron's room and back with Alyce and Ginny. She apologized immensely throughout the night when the baby would wake up and cry to be fed or changed. Ginny and Alyce both looked a little exhausted from being woken up throughout the night but neither said anything to Lily. Alyce did both of their makeup to cover up this fact and the two got dressed for the wedding. They both looked back at Lily, who had had a dress for the occasion; Mrs. Weasley had altered a dress to a maternity size before any of them had expected the baby to come the day before the wedding.

"You know I can't go the baby is 12 hours old," Lily said looking toward the bassinet across the room.

"You should at least get dressed, I have a feeling after the wedding guests are going to be looking for a reason to get away and you might have a few stray up here to congratulate you on the baby," Alyce said.

"I suppose your right," Lily said. "And you are all leaving tonight, after that I will be living with Tonks's family.

"They are moving you tonight?" Alyce asked.

"They said it would be sometime after the wedding, so I'm presuming it will be tomorrow. The longer I stay here the more danger I am of Snape finding me."

Alyce nodded and helped Lily dressed into the maternity dress. "You look good Lily," Ginny said.

Lily smiled and shook her head. "Thanks, but I look like I just had a baby, which doesn't necessarily equate to good."

"Nah you've got that new mother glow," Alyce said smiling.

"You two better get downstairs before you get scalped," Lily said hearing a crash downstairs as last minute setting up was being done.

The two left and Lily was alone with the baby. It was quiet and peaceful, and then she heard a tiny wail from the bassinet and went over to feed him.

Alyce and Ginny walked downstairs and began welcoming guests. Lily picked up the baby from the bassinet and rocked him in her arms. Mrs. Weasley tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I have a sling if you would like to come out and enjoy the wedding,"

Lily looked at the silken shoulder sling that would cradle her baby against her. She smiled at Mrs. Weasley and asked, "Do you think it is safe to have the baby out this soon?"

Mrs. Weasley took a look at the baby. "That is a judgment call on your part, but I had the children out soon after they were born."

Lily nodded and said. "I will come out in a little while then, when the wedding is closer to starting."

Lily laid her son back in the bassinet and listened to his tiny breaths as he slumbered. She sighed to herself knowing that now that she had had the baby she couldn't imagine her life without him.

Lily watched the wedding from the open window knowing that having her baby in direct sunlight was definitely a bad idea. She might take him out later after the sun went down. She sighed watching the happy couple begin their life together. Lily looked over at her bassinet. She had definitely gone about things the wrong way. She had a baby, no father for said baby to be spoken of, not that she wanted him around, and now it would be very difficult to have what Bill and Fleur had since she had to worry about her son as well. She had Severus Snape's baby, she was lucky she had as many people talking to her as she did. She sighed. She should be happy; at least her son was healthy. So many other things could have gone wrong, and she had made her choices like an adult and now she would have to face them.

"You are looking lovely as ever Alyce," Viktor Krum said approaching her. "Where is your equally charming friend, Lily?" he asked.

"She's inside the house, you can go and see her yourself if you like," Alyce said to him. She remembered breaking up with Viktor soon after they had started dating. She hadn't even had the chance to fuck him, but she noticed that Viktor had a thing for bookish types. She had suggested he try for Lily, but it appeared he never got up the courage to. Too bad he had waited so long; maybe Lily wouldn't have a baby now if he had.

"Why is she not out at the wedding?" Viktor asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," Alyce said snickering. She knew as soon as Viktor saw the baby he would regret never having asked her out.

Lily heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said softly.

Viktor looked shocked when he saw the tiny baby in the bassinet and Lily who was still recovering from the birth yesterday.

"Nice to see you again Viktor," Lily said smiling weakly.

"Likewise," he said taking in the scene. "Who is the lucky man?"

Lily sighed. "Surprised one of the giant gossips out there didn't tell you. Doesn't hurt to tell you now I guess, everyone knows anyway. Do you remember the caustic Hogwarts potions professor?" Lily asked.

"Yes?" Viktor said confused. Finally, after a few moments the lightbulb seemed to go off, "No fucking way," he said quietly to himself. "Why?"

"I ask myself that question every day," she said looking down at her feet.

"Well…" Alyce said not realizing that this could turn as ugly as it did.

"Do you want to see him?" Lily asked innocently not sure what else to say.

Viktor hesitated and then finally said, "Yes,"

Lily led Viktor to the bassinet where he saw a surprisingly good looking baby. "I certainly wasn't expecting that," Viktor said quietly.

"You have a beautiful baby Lily," Viktor said to her.

"Thank you," Lily said.

"I'll leave you two alone," Alyce said slipping out and smirking to herself. Lily needed some male company other than Ron, and if she and Viktor didn't end up dating it would make Ron jealous enough to do something about it. She would like to see the two of them together as much as she wanted to punch Ron in his stupid face sometimes. She had done her good deed of the day and now she was on the prowl for her next man. She knew she had made a no boy pact with Lily, but she was going to be without for a very very long time possibly and she wanted to be sure that she got her fill before trekking after Horcruxes with Harry and Ron.

Viktor spent about twenty minutes with Lily and her baby asking Lily a few questions about how she had been. Lily politely asked him questions about his career. The baby began crying and she said, "I think he may be hungry so I need to feed him," she said.

Viktor nodded and left the room. He did not return after that.

Alyce made her way through the crowd until she spotted a potential. She gave Charlie a wink and he raised an eyebrow at her. She shifted her eyes to a quiet area where they could have a little fun and began walking that way seductively walking over to the area. Charlie followed, breaking through the crowd, almost drooling. Alyce smirked lasciviously, loving the reaction she was getting from him. She took around the corner where they disappeared out of view and found herself having a very satisfying quickie with the dragon tamer.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had a bit of an exhibitionist streak," Charlie said smirking at the sated witch.

"You don't know the half of it," she said rolling her eyes and fixing her dress.

"I hope to see you again soon. I haven't been with many women as… enthusiastic as you are," he said. "Or vocal."

Alyce winked at him and walked back toward the crowded yard to be with the rest of the partygoers.

The next person to visit Lily was Ron. She hadn't expected to see him when she told the person knocking at the door that they could come in.

"Oh, hello Ron," Lily said.

"Hello Lily," he said back to her.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

There was a commotion outside and the two looked at the window.

Harry and Alyce felt panicked as they saw Kingsley's patronus. "Where is Ron?" Harry asked his voice shaking as they were trying to figure out where to go.

"In the house, checking on Lily," Alyce said making a run for the house.

"What the hell is going on out there," Ron asked as the two busted into the room.

"They are coming," Harry said.

Lily jumped up from the bed and pulled out a beaded bag from underneath it. "I've had this packed for a while; it has everything you will ever need. Take care of one another and I'll keep you in my thoughts. Please just keep each other safe," Lily said rushing them.

The three apparated and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. At least they would be safe.

Lily heard the crashing and commotion get louder outside. She waited hoping that they wouldn't check for her.

The death eaters appeared and began to question everyone at the gathering about the attendance of Harry Potter. Snape questioned a few selected while his death eater brothers checked the rest. He got to Viktor Krum who held no pertinent information except that Lily was here, and she had the baby. He heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he looked into the bassinet through the boy's thoughts and saw the baby he was horrified would be hideous.

"I am going to collect my child," Severus said to the group. They smirked at him and he entered the Weasley home.

He didn't see much and sneered at the accommodations. He was aware that the Weasley's were poor, everyone in the Wizarding World knew that, but he was more shocked as he walked through the house. He finally found a room with a closed door and he knocked on the door. There was silence and he opened the door slowly to see Lily clutching the baby protectively with one arm and her wand was drawn and ready in her free hand.

"Get out of here," Lily demanded pointing the wand at Severus trying to get him away from her. He merely smirked and chuckled.

"Lily would you really hex the father of your son?" he said his voice layered with seduction hoping to get her to lower her wand so he could take her and the child. He may hate Lily for what she did to him, what she did to herself, but he would be damned if his child was hurt in the process.

As he stepped forward and Lily did indeed hex him. "Well I guess that answers that question," he thought to himself. Lily got up from the bed not knowing where to go. She knew she wouldn't be safe no matter where she ran and she was always going to be running. She wished that she had been moved to Tonks's parents house before tonight. She sighed knowing that if that were the case Alyce, Ron, and Harry wouldn't have been prepared to leave tonight when they did. She scurried around the house looking for a place to hide. She was hoping if she could hide long enough she wouldn't be found and she could leave when all the death eaters finally cleared out.

She stepped into a closet and heard Snape storming after being hexed. "He's going to be pissed," Lily thought to herself. She clutched the sleeping baby in her hands praying that he wouldn't cry and give away their position.

She shook and tried to stop breathing as Snape passed close by. She watched the babies eyes open and at first appear shocked and then the corners crinkled and she knew what was coming. She held the baby close to her hoping to calm him before he started, but it was no use. He let out a shrill cry and she felt the door being flung open in front of her and came face to face with the man she had feared would find her.

Snape shook his head. Stupid girl, there was no place for her to hide. She was safer with him than she knew especially since he was practically guaranteed the headmaster's position at Hogwarts. He sighed knowing that she was just as far in this as him now. Voldemort would be expecting him to bring her so he could go through her memories and get what he needed about the Potter boy.

"Get up," he said to her grabbing her from the floor and dragging her outside. He was sure to take her wand from her first so she couldn't attack him. He felt her trying to get away and caught her again holding her tightly as she was taken out into the yard with the rest of the terrified wedding guests.

"Where is Potter!" Bellatrix LeStrange said pointing her wand at Lily who was clutching her baby and shaking.

The crowd looked at her and she just mumbled, "I don't know."

"LIAR!" Bellatrix said running at her and pointing her wand at Lily. Snape stepped between and said, "That's enough."

Bellatrix looked at him with crazed eyes. "She is holding my son," Snape said glaring at her.

Upon this revelation those wedding guests who did not know that Lily had had Snape's child were now whispering among themselves.

"I'm taking her with me, and after she has tended to my son I will bring her back for questioning. The Dark Lord will summon us when he's ready. I expect the rest of the guests will be questioned accordingly,"

Snape drug the girl away and apparated with her and the infant. Lily saw herself standing in a small cramped house and she heard the clock chime. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten.

Snape took the baby from her arms and placed him in the crib he set up in a secondary bedroom in the house. He stared down at his son in amazement. As a child this had been his room and now his own son was in the same room. He sighed and went back to deal with the child's mother. Lily was still shaking in the living room. "Where have you taken him," she said her voice shaking as much as she was.

"He's sleeping and safe in his room," Snape said matter of factly.

Lily thought about what he had said. Had he been planning this all along? Lily walked into what appeared to be a nursery. "Were you planning this?" Lily asked him speaking outloud.

Snape just sighed. He couldn't tell her the truth, she would soon be questioned by Voldemort about him and he still needed Voldemort to believe that he had purposely seduced the girl in order for her to be separated from the group leaving Potter unprotected by the strategist of the group.

"I am not answering that question Ms. Kacufrakus." Snape said.

"Why me?" Lily asked angry now. "Why did you pick me?"

"Because it had to be this way Lily," he said finally saying her name and looking at her with deep smoldering eyes. She said nothing else to him.

Alyce, Ron, and Harry apparated to Tottenham Court. "What the fuck Alyce?" Ron asked assessing the surroundings.

"Where are we?" Harry asked as she pulled them out of the bustling crowd.

"Tottenham Court, I haven't been here in years, but I figured we would be safer surrounded by Muggles."

Ron and Harry nodded and Alyce dug through the beaded bag that Lily had sent them with. The invisibility cloak was packed away and each person went under the cloak to change out of their wedding clothes and into something less conspicuous.

"Where do we go now?" Ron asked as they walked down the street with no direction.

"I don't know, but we need to sit down and figure out what we are going to do," Alyce said, motioning to a small dirty diner.

Harry got under the invisibility cloak and they all walked into the diner. Alyce ordered espresso and Ron ordered the same not sure what to order. When the espresso came out Alyce took a couple of gulps and Ron took a gulp and then cringed.

"Can't we go Grimmauld place?" Harry asked from under the cloak.

"I'm not sure its safe," Alyce said thinking to herself. "Dumbledore was the secret keeper and now that he has died all of the order members have access, including Snape."

Ron gripped his fists in anger. Snape had probably given the location to every last Death Eater.

Snape sat in the living room waiting to be summoned with Lily. He wanted so badly to tell her what was going on, but he knew he couldn't. He wasn't sure how well she did with occulmency. He was certain she had be better than her hard-headed friend Potter, whom he had unsuccessfully tried to train last year. Snape himself had been practicing it for so long because of the nature of being a spy that it was almost second nature.

Lily was on the other side of the room farthest away from Snape. She shook, knowing that very soon she would be presented to Voldemort, tortured, and possibly killed. She was no use to her son now, she was being sent to her death by his father. She knew why Snape had chosen her though he had never definitively answered her question from before. He needed to separate her from Harry, Alyce, and Ron, and now she would be questioned by Voldemort to divulge all the secrets that Harry had shared with her. She didn't know how she could have been so stupid to have not seen it before. It was like she was under a spell, a curse more like it, and she was so blinded by need, and that blindness lasted until she conceived his child. She sighed, there was nothing she could do now.

Snape watched Lily curiously. He thought about their son in the next room, his flesh and blood sleeping quietly just a few rooms away. Severus Snape, a father, he wouldn't have believed it himself if he didn't see and hold his child just minutes ago. "How old is he?" he finally asked her.

Lily looked at him and then looked at the clock and then said, "A little less than a day old."

Snape nodded. He knew the boy hadn't looked very big. He had missed a large milestone in his sons's life, his birth. He was already proving to be a terrible father right from the start. "What did you name him?" Snape asked cringing and praying it wasn't after one of her dunderhead friends.

"Brian," she said plainly.

Snape hadn't expected that. He thought about the name for a while and then cringed. No, she hadn't picked one of the names of her dunderhead friends, she had to pick one of Dumbledore's middle names. As if he needed a constant reminder of that. Now he would have a daily reminder that his son bore the name of the man he murdered. He sighed, he wasn't sure the day could get any worse. Suddenly his mark began to burn and he thought, "It appears they can get worse."

"Get Brian out of the nursery," Snape said coldly. Lily stood still for a moment, "NOW," he barked at her.

Lily hurried into the other room and grabbed her son. She looked around to see if there was any escape route, but unfortunately found none. She walked back out into the living room and Snape grabbed ahold of her.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked as Snape pulled his wand out.

"We are being summoned," he said as they apparated together.


	26. Riptide

**Chapter 26: Riptide**

Lily held her eyes tightly as she was whisked away into a place she was sure she wouldn't be leaving that night. She clutched her child as close as she could to her chest. If she had any luck her son would still be alive after this, though she wasn't certain that even Snape's child would be spared. Lily opened her eyes after a moment when she felt herself being pulled forward.

Lily wasn't surprised by what she was facing. She tried not to show the fear that was creeping its way out. She had seen Voldemort before so that was no surprise. She had just never been thrown against him by herself. Snape pushed her forward and Lily stood quietly. She was sure Voldemort was getting ready to kill her when he chuckled and stood up pointing his wand at her.

"So the rumors are true," he said his voice making it all the more real. She stood very still trying to focus on her child who was currently sleeping in her arms. "May I offer my congratulations; though I believe Snape you may have been tricked."

Voldemort's gaze shift went from Lily to Snape. Snape smirked and replied, "I didn't believe it either my Lord, but I'm sure we'll get to that won't we."

"I have questions for you Ms. Kacufrakus, and if you don't answer I can promise you won't like the consequences," Voldemort said keeping his wand pointed at her. Lily finally was able to look around and she saw that there were many death eaters there and she wasn't alone. That made her feel all the more alone of course, because there was no one in this room who could or would help her. She would have to hold up the best she could and hope that she didn't give away too much before he finally killed her.

Snape came up from behind Lily and grabbed Brian away from her. She didn't feel safe leaving the child with Snape, but she assumed it would be better than having him right now. She didn't want the baby to be tortured while she got tortured.

"Honestly Ms. Kacufrakus, I am not going to trust a word out of your mouth, so of course I will be forced to look through your memories manually to get what I want. Perhaps a round of Veritasserum as well later, but for now," Voldemort said chuckling. "This should suffice."

Lily swallowed. She had NEVER practiced occlumencery. She knew that every secret would be out now and there was nothing she could do.

Voldemort did indeed cast the spell on her and she was forced to live through her memories knowing he was watching. They started out innocently enough, it was hard to watch her and her brother being shipped to her grandmother's at such a young age. She began tearing upon seeing a much healthier alive Elaine who had not quite been gripped with full blown Alzheimer's and was just in her forgetful stage. Sam looked so alive, so happy, and she relived another memory of getting her Hogwarts letter, knowing now that it wouldn't fulfill the promises she made to her brother. The tears flowed freely now and she was whisked away through her first year. She just hoped she could show him what he wanted to see without divulging too much. She of course couldn't think it because he was now linked into her mind. As her second year approached then came awkward preteen issues which she was sort of grateful for. No crying to be had at those memories, but they did not seem to make Voldemort uncomfortable.

Lily felt heat against her sternum where the locket was laying against her skin. She wondered if this was the protection that she needed, the protection to keep her memories from being used against her and the ones she loved. She imagined the pictures she put in her locket. They were of her child and of her friends. She focused on that, glad that she hadn't wasted any time making use of the locket that was willed to her.

She let go and the stream of consciousness seemed to throw random things out. The next memory was her dancing with Harry at the Yule Ball. The memory was more solid than the wisps she had seen before.

"You have two left feet you know that," Lily whispered to him.

Harry shrugged and grunted. Lily rolled her eyes, "Very mature."

The song ended and the two separated.

Harry and Ron ditched the two girls who sat at the table. "Viktor went to get us some punch."

Lily smiled at her friend but it was forced.

"Getting close to that time eh?" Alyce asked.

Lily cocked and eyebrow.

"Friends don't date for a reason, it makes things too weird," Alyce said.

Lily nodded. "Honestly I feel like a booty call half the time," Lily said. "Without the obvious implications of intercourse."

The memory faded and another cropped up, and Lily was relieved to see it was another awkward fourth year one. As she began to see it solidify she chuckled inwardly knowing this was possibly one of the most awkward.

Fourteen year old Harry and Lily were snogging by the lake. The kiss was broken and Lily finally sighed and said, "Do you think it's ever going to go further than this?"

Harry gave her a confused look and then the lightbulb in his head seemed to go off. "I don't know, I don't know when to make the first move."

"It's been two years. I'm not a slut Harry, but I'm not a prude either,"

"Ok, well farther then," he said trying to gather his courage. He kissed her harder thrusting his tongue into her mouth and Lily gasped, more out of surprise than lust, as he awkwardly grabbed a breast. She opened her eyes and shook her head.

"This isn't going to work. There just isn't any spark," Lily said.

Harry looked relieved. "I haven't been feeling it either!"

"Well, I guess we go back to being friends amicably then," Lily said.

"Yeah, whatever you said without the dictionary terms thrown in," Harry said.

The two left the lake and the memory faded out.

Another memory filled its place of Harry asking about Cho Chang who had kissed him at a Dumbledore's army meeting.

"Lily can I ask you a question," Harry asked her.

"Yeah, I guess so. What's the question?" she said sitting down on the couch in the common room with him.

"I kissed Cho tonight," Harry said nervously.

"That sounds like more of a statement than a question," Lily said obviously uncomfortable as to where this conversation was going.

Harry seemed not to notice and said, "I was getting to that part. Anyway, I just wanted to ask you, in the time that we were dating was I a bad kisser."

Lily popped her lips together awkwardly. "Wow… I umm wasn't expecting that. I… am not sure I don't exactly have a lot of experience myself…." Lily said unsure of what to say.

Harry looked mortified. "I just, I don't know how to practice for that sort of thing."

Lily raised an eyebrow seeing where this conversation was going, "NO way!" she said scooting away from him. "You aren't practicing on me; we broke up because kissing you was like… I don't know, kissing a sibling. I am not going to be your booty call just because you think you are a bad kisser!"

Harry looked hurt, and the two stepped away from one another awkwardly.

Another memory filled the place where that one had ended awkwardly. She was sure Voldemort remembered this memory it was one that he had created. Harry was gripping his forehead and Lily went to his aid asking what was wrong. Alyce and Ron filed in behind her. This was when Harry had told her that they had Sirius.

"Harry," Lily said chasing after him as he began to get ready to depart. "What if this is a trap. He can use your mind Harry!"

"Lily, I have to do this, so if you aren't going to help get the hell out of my way," he said.

"Harry please don't do this, you are only going to regret it. At least let someone go in and check to make sure Sirius isn't home," Lily pleaded.

"No, by then it could be too late." Harry said.

"Please, listen to me!" Lily said.

The next memory popped up to fill its place. It was the end of fifth year again. Sirius had just been killed and Voldemort had fled the ministry. Harry was shaking on the ground and Lily, Ron, and Alyce ran over to him. Lily picked him up in her arms and shook him gently hoping to awaken him.

"Sirius," he croaked looking as if he were going to cry.

Lily held his upper body in her arms and rocked him. Ron looked tearful as did Alyce, but they kept their distance. They appeared apprehensive to approach him. Lily looked up toward them and motioned with her head for them to come over.

Dumbledore helped her get Harry on his feet and Lily let the two of them go. Alyce and Ron stayed back with her and she asked them if they needed anything. They both shook their heads and Lily left to go into another room. In that room she cried loudly glad to be away from the others, glad that she could be alone to do this. She could never let this out with everyone around, all the pity in their eyes. No, she kept those things to herself and she always would. She wiped her eyes and returned to her friends.

That memory faded into a few more snipets which appeared to just be squabbles between them and Lily giving advice for how he would eventually face Voldemort. She even volunteered to practice with him, minus the unforgiveable spells of course.

The last memory Voldemort seemed to be probing for. It was of the first night she and Severus were together. She felt so surreal watching it from her new vantage point. She could see the passion alight in both of their eyes as he took her on the dungeon floor. She watched her own face contort in slight pain as she assumed her hymen was being torn. Her body had been through more than that in the past twenty four hours. She had birthed a full term infant who she was now sure was resting in his father's arms. This was the last memory before Voldemort severed connection.

He did not show emotions on his snake like face but said, "Well Severus it appears the child is yours after all, and I must say her memory of it is quite graphic." A grin appeared on his snake like face.

"It appears that you and Potter were quite close," he said smirking. She could see Severus tense behind her from her peripheral vision.

"He is my best friend," she said quietly.

"Indeed he is, and what a shame that you can't help him with his dueling anymore and of course being his voice of reason whether he wants to listen to you or not. I do so hope to have you on our side, you are quite skilled. Perhaps you could kill the other two of your friends."

"Never," she said her voice full of spite.

"I don't think you are in a position to make demands Ms. Kacufrakus," he said to her.

"I won't hurt anyone for you," she said.

"Wrong answer," Voldemort said casting the Cruciatis curse on her.

Lily was racked with pain, but somehow was not as phased as she had expected. She admitted that it was worse than the pain she had endured giving birth to her child, but after that pain the pain she was having didn't seem as strong as it would have had she not. She writhed in pain but willed herself not to scream, not to give him the satisfaction. Instead she let out a gurgled moan as she held down vomit that was attempting to make its way up. After what seemed like hours he finally stopped.

"Tough little Gryfinndor," he said willing himself to cast another spell. "I suppose as you are not used to me if you aren't going to help then you are dead weight to be dealt with."

Lily held her breath knowing that the killing curse was next and glad that her son was no longer in her arms though she wished she could have kissed him goodbye. She closed her eyes knowing it would be over soon, but was surprised when she reopened them and saw Severus standing in front of her.

"Lord, let me break her," Severus said. "My child will need his mother, to nurse and care for him and you can force Potter to relive the memories I give you. In six weeks time she will healed from birthing my child. I will take her then, and again until I break her."

Voldemort closed his eyes imagining the memory he had taken from Lily. The memory was deliciously sensual and he enjoyed her pain as she was being mercilessly fucked on a cold dungeon floor. "I expect you to keep your word Snape." Voldemort said coldly. "I will send the girl and child with you to live at Hogwarts, but I expect those memories promptly."

Severus nodded and grabbed Lily's arm. He placed the baby in her arms and they apparated back to Spinner's end.

Severus grabbed the baby from her seeing the strange look in her eyes. He knew she wouldn't hurt the baby but he knew she would try to run off with him and that was just as bad. He had to protect this child, and unfortunately the child's barely legal mother.

Severus placed the baby in the crib in the nursery and cast a spell protecting the house, but also keeping Lily from leaving.

"You should have let him kill me," Lily said pacing.

"What and leave our child without a mother. Grow up Lily," Severus said with spite in his voice.

"Grow up!" Lily exploded at him. "You have no fucking idea Severus Snape. Don't you dare pretend like you understand what my life has been like! You fucking prick." Lily shouted at him.

He did feel a little bad about that one, but he had a right to be mad at her. He silenced her with, "You seduced me and you didn't think to bring a condom?"

"Seduced you?" Lily said with rage in her eyes.

"Yes Lily, seduced me. Or would you rather I call you Rachel?"

Lily paled. "Didn't think I knew about that?" Severus said to her.

A cry came from the other room and Lily departed to feed their son. She noted that there was a rocking chair in the nursery and she rocked her son to sleep as she fed him. Severus watched from the doorway feeling his breath grab in his throat. This was his family now, Lily and Brian. He couldn't imagine a better mother for his son, and the picture in his head of Lily raising half a dozen kids popped back into his head.

Meanwhile, while Lily endured her time with Voldemort, Harry, Ron, and Alyce still sat in the dusty diner trying to decide what to do. Two other people joined them in the diner, choosing the booth behind them. Alyce looked over uncomfortably, as her back was to the diner door, and tried to assess whether they were a threat. Before she had time to react, the men stood and pulled out their wands. She picked up hers just as quickly and shouted, "Stupefy!" knocking one of them to the ground and then she pulled Ron under the table as they narrowly missed a spell cast by the other man.

After several minutes and several exploded tables later, the other man was also down. Alyce assessed the surroundings and noted that the waitress that had served them had accidentally be stunned as well.

"I'm going to do a memory charm on them," Alyce said. "You two work on cleaning this place up so it doesn't look off when the three of them wake up."

The two boys nodded and did as they were told. When the place was cleaned and all three stunned persons had had their memories wiped, Alyce cleared her throat and said, "How the hell did they find us so quickly?"

"Maybe they still have a trace on Harry," Ron said uncomfortably.

The two looked over at Harry who looked away from them. It was evident from his face that he did not want to think that he was the reason that they were being followed. "The trace disappears at seventeen," he said quietly hoping that they would believe him.

"The ministry has fallen," Alyce said. "It's hard to say."

"How could a death eater have gotten close enough to put the trace back on him?" Ron asked.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said angrily. "We need a place to hide, we need to go Grimmauld Place."

"Harry," Alyce said semi-sternly. "We can't go back there, Dumbledore is dead and Snape knows where it is."

"The Order said they had put protective spells on the place," Ron said trying to stick up for his friend.

"Either way if we are going to get hoards of Death Eaters coming after me because I am still traceable, then it's as safe a place as any."

Alyce could find no way to argue. "Ok," she said calmly.

The three left the diner as the other three who were stunned began to come to. By the time the two men and the waitress were standing, Harry, Ron, and Alyce had disappeared into the night.


End file.
